Landuse change within Okomu and Gilli-Gilli Forest Reserves, southwestern Nigeria: Its climatic and societal implications

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Abstract (may include machine translation)

The study evaluated the climatic and societal implications of vegetation degradation in Okomu and Gilli-Gilli Forest Reserves (OGFRs) of Nigeria. Both remote sensing and non-remote sensing data and methodologies were used. Landsat data between 1984 and 2011 were used as quantitative data while social survey was carried out for qualitative data collection and assessment. Both remote sensing classification and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) methods were used in this study. The results show that deforestation resulting from farmland encroachment has increased in Okomu Forest Reserves (OFR) but was relatively low in Gilli-Gilli Forest Reserves (GFR). In 1984, about 17% of the reserves were deforested, and this increased to 37% in 2011 in OFR. These values reveal a massive deforestation. Forest disturbance within the GFR is much less than OFR possibly because high rate of illegal oil palm development in OFR. The result shows no significant impacts of vegetation degradation on local climate, but people in the communities around the reserves reported several climatic extreme events as a result of vegetation removal. However, the study could not reveal direct significant impact of vegetation degradation on local climate but there were rather indirect impacts from climate events. The results from social survey show that over 80% of local people perceived high rate of heavy erosion and flooding mostly from year 2000 to 2011. It is obvious from the social survey that unrestrained felling of forest in the region has also rendered the soil vulnerable to erosion and flooding since forests tend to reduce the impact of erosion and floods. There is a need for proper enforcement of forest conservation laws in order to reduce the rate of deforestation, not only in OFR and OGR but also in all forest reserves in the country.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)193-203
Number of pages11
JournalTropical Ecology
Volume57
Issue number2
StatePublished - May 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Drivers of deforestation
  • Remote sensing
  • Vegetation degradation

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