Public perceptions of Urban Forests in Okitipupa Nigeria: Implication for Environmental Conservation

摘要

The paper assessed the public perceptions of urban forest in Okitipupa’ Nigeria with aview to recommending appropriate management strategies. Two hundred respondents werepurposively selected from the study area with structured questionnaire. Results revealed that 90.2% ofthe respondents has preference for trees and 85.4% will be willing to participate in a project to planttrees. More than 50% of the respondents would like to contribute 1-2 hours per week to the projectwhile 31.7% would like to contribute #500-1000 annually for tree planting and maintenance. Most ofthe respondents love to live and work in a green environment and would like to pay extra cost to rentproperty located in it. Most of the respondents planted trees around their houses for purpose ofproviding fruits, nuts and vegetable. 50% indicated that it is for the purpose of making theirenvironment to be more beautiful, attractive and for the provision of medicinal plants. There are nostatistically significant differences (p>0.05) of opinions in the respondents’ education, age, family sizeand type of employer and participation in urban forestry project. There should be frequent inventoryand survey of trees to note the distribution and density as well as structural and physical changesnecessary for management practices. Also a survey of tree preference when planning for a tree plantingprogramme should be carried out.