Significance of wood and non-wood forest products in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the significance of wood and non- wood forest products in Cross River State, Nigeria. Structured  questionnaires were used to generate primary data which were analyzed using simple descriptive and inferential statistics tools. The  results showed that majority of respondents were males (68.16%) with 80.27% of the respondents belonging to age brackets of 31 to 60  years. Only 31.39% obtained a maximum of school certificate and above. Majority (79.82%) of the respondents were married and 63.12%  derived their livelihood directly from the forest either by farming or gathering or through hunting. Also 62.13% of the respondents had  their annual income ranging between N10000 and N70000. There was significant socio - economic values of wood and non-wood forest  products in the study area. Notably among the socio-economic values from the forest include source of raw materials (94%), source of  energy (91.2%), source of food and nutrition (87.7%), income generation (82.5%), medicinal uses (80%) and employment generation (75%)  which recorded high percentage of response. Forest and its resources are considered a warehouse for goods and services by the  rural and urban dwellers in Cross River State. However, the status of the forest and its resources is no longer view as renewable by the  rural poor because of numerous factors which include indiscriminate exploitation, plantation establishment and infrastructural  development. In fact, many of the forest resources are imported from neighboring countries because of high rates of deforestation in the  study area. In order to minimize the high dependency on the forest, every household should be encouraged to establish a small  wood - lots or orchard in their home gardens.