Socio-economic impacts of timber harvesting in Ago’owu Forest Reserve and its environs In Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The socio-economic impacts of timber harvesting in Ago’Owu Forest Reserve and its environs were investigated. Simple random sampling  technique was used to select 100 forest dwellers from 3 adjoining communities of Ago’Owu Forest Reserve. Sample was drawn in proportionate to size. A set of structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on various timber species in Ago ‘Owu Forest Reserve, impacts of timber harvesting on the livelihood of forest dwellers and challenges of the timber harvesting in the Forest Reserve. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square and logistic regression at α0.05. The average age of the respondents was 36.7±8.9 years, mostly male (87.1%) and married (53.4%) while  34.7% and 34.7% had secondary and primary education respectively. Harvested timber species in the area were Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Triplochiton scleroxylon. Results on socio-economic impacts revealed that timber harvesting has positively affected the livelihood of the respondents in terms of income generation (22.8%), rural development (20.8%), improved standard of living (19.8%), poverty alleviation (19.8%) and job opportunity (15.5%). Relationship between socio-economic characteristics and the impact of timber harvesting in Ago ‘Owu Forest Reserve revealed that there was significant association among nativity (χ² =6.75), occupation (χ² =21.21), work experience (χ² = 16.84) and impact on timber harvesting in Ago ‘Owu Forest Reserve. Identified challenges facing timber harvesting were poor road network, high tariff, transportation of products and capital intensive nature of the harvesting process with odd-ratios of 1206.0, 81.3, 26.7 and 23.4, respectively. Timber harvesting and  trade in the Forest Reserve were found to have highly impacted the livelihood of the forest dwellers positively, although still confronted by some  challenges. However, government should encourage plantation establishment, review tariff, repair road network and address other problems faced by timber contractors and loggers.

Keywords: Forest Reserve, Timber harvesting, Challenges involved, Forest dwellers, Rural livelihood