Forest Research: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

In Situ Forest Biodiversity: Integrating Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems into Conservation Policies in Southwestern Nigeria

John Langton*

Biodiversity loss has become a major problem in Southwestern Nigeria because 70%-80% of its forest has been converted to non-forest uses. Modern conservation systems have not yielded desired result because the techniques had proved inadequate in addressing conservation issues. The study is therefore an assessment of indigenous and modern methods of forest management in Southwestern, Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were used in this study. The secondary data (inventories of woody species, lists of communities within the buffer zone, types of forest resources and conservation techniques) were obtained from Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove (OOSG) and Old Oyo National Park (OONP) records. Quadrant method was used for sampling of the woody species. The study sites consisted of eight plots of 50 × 50 m along two 300 m long transects. One Way ANOVA, Relative Species Index, Species Diversity Index (SDI), Important Value Index and some descriptive methods, such as; tabulation, percentages, mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study were that: Biodiversity index was higher under indigenous conservation method at OOSG of (3.48) compared to OONP (3.14) under modern conservation method and the Species Diversity Index (SDI) suggests that both indigenous and modern techniques of forest conservation encouraged biodiversity conservation (SDI 3.01-8.27).This study concluded that indigenous conservation techniques yielded better conservation results and contribute to biodiversity integrity of the study area. The study recommended that there should be a policy that will strengthen and integrate existing indigenous practices to further make stronger conservation efforts.

Published Date: 2022-02-04; Received Date: 2022-01-03