Environmental Awareness creation through the mass media: an important tool in sustainable forest management in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which environmental awareness creation through the mass media influence sustainable forest management in Ogoja local government area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised of all adult male and female in the area of the study. A sample size of four hundred and seventy (470) respondents was drawn from the population of four thousand seven hundred (4700) using the stratified and simple random sampling technique. A four point modified Likert scale questionnaire titled “Environmental Awareness Creation through the Mass Media and Sustainable Forest Management Questionnaire” (EACTMMSFMQ) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by two experts in the Department of Test and Measurement in the University of Calabar. The instrument was administered personally by the researchers with the help of two trained research assistants in the area of the study. The data was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a post hoc analysis using fishers’ least significance difference (FLSD). The results of the analysis revealed that environmental awareness creation through the mass media (print and electronic media) significantly influence sustainable forest management in the area of the study. Based on the results of the study it was recommended that the government and environmental conservation agencies should make concerted effort to ensure that there is adequate awareness creation on sustainable forest management through the mass media. More so, the media should ensure that information on sustainable forest management is far reaching and widely spread to the forest communities.

Keywords: Environmental Awareness Creation, Mass Media, Sustainable Forest Management, Ogoja, Cross River State, Nigeria