Prioritization of Wood Species Utilized for Furniture Making in Selected Cities in Nigeria

Abstract

This study identified the Commonly Used Tree Species (CUTS) and the Lesser Used Tree Species (LUTS) used for furniture making with the aim of developing a priority class for them. The prioritization was carried out through the administration of questionnaires on 193 furniture factories selected through stratified random sampling technique in Lagos, Ibadan and Benin. The preference for wood species varied among the three cities and among the three scales of furniture factories. However, Mansonia altissima was most preferred in the three cities with rates of 99.0%, 97.4% and 97.7% in Lagos, Ibadan and Benin respectively. 39 wood species were compiled from the lists of the three cities. 36% of the 39 wood species were listed by Large scale furniture factories and 44% by the Medium scale furniture factories while the Small scale furniture factories listed all the wood species (100%). Of the 39 species listed, three species namely: Gimelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Pinus caribaea were exotic species while the remaining 36 species were indigenous. The top fifteen rated species classified as CUTS had their percentage ranging between 12.07% for Albizia zygia and 98.28% for Mansonia altissima. The remaining 24 species classified as LUTS had their percentage ranging from 9.77% for Entandrophragma cylindricum and Holoptelea grandis to 0.57% for Daniellia ogea, Petersianthus macrocarpus, Symphonia globulifera and Ricinodendrum heudelotii respectively. It is therefore imperative that essential information on LUTS that compare favourably with the CUTS be made public and accessible to furniture factories so as to encourage their preference for furniture making.