Anthropogenic Pressures on Selected Ahmadu Bello University Forest Plantations: Assessing the Consequences for Forest Sustainability

Abstract

Every year, forests are lost due to a variety of human-caused factors, even with the efforts to reduced deforestation through afforestation, reforestation, tree planting, and agro-forestry techniques. At Ahmadu Bello University, anthropogenic activities stress on selected forest plantations were examined in order to determine the implications for the sustainability of the forests A total of 120 questionnaires were randomly administered and 100 were retrieved. The questionnaire was administered in the following other; Forestry officials (20) community members (50) and Farmers (50). The questionnaire was designed in English Language and administered in two ways, some are distributed to the respondents and retrieved later while others are administered by group of interviewers who could speak and write in local dialects. Face - to - face method of interviews was adopted by the group. A total of 6 plantations were randomly selected based on their proximity, stock density, economic values and vulnerable to various anthropogenic activities. Simple descriptive statistic was used to analysed the data collected. The results show that 39.0% of the respondents were between the age brackets of 31 – 40 years. 50% of sampled respondents are married while 25% are single. 68% are male while 32% are female. 30% of the respondents are forestry practitioners. 37% of the respondents had primary school education, 10% had no form of formal education, 15% had Quranic education, 12% had secondary school education, 26% had tertiary education. 38.10% of the respondents identified that farming / livestock activities are the major anthropogenic activities in the study area. 45% of the respondents identified that extent and intensity of various anthropogenic activities is very severe on ecosystem, 95% of the respondents agreed and have observed that human activities cause changes in forest plantation ecosystem 45% are of the opinion that impact of anthropogenic activities results in habitat loss. 34.88% o engaged in these negative acts because of poverty and lack of alternative livelihood. 37.12% identified that these acts only make minimal contribution to the household in supporting their family as alternative source of income while 45% of the respondents identified that public awareness is the main strategy to adopt in curbing these acts in our forest plantation estates.  It was recommended that the stakeholders draft and implement new forest policy reforms that would severely punish offenders in order to deter future offenders. Finally, it was suggested that forest guards be hired to patrol plantations in order to curb all of these anthropogenic activities.