Perception of the Status of Iko-Esai Community Forest, Akamkpa Local Government, Cross River State, Nigeria

Efforts have been made by some communities towards conserving their forest, but deforestation still poses serious problems. Despite efforts to conserve community forest, increasing dependence on the forest is bound to shrink the forest continuously. Thus, findings from the study will strengthen the community’s initiative towards conservation and sustainable management of their forest and provide baseline information for future studies in the study area. The study assessed indigenes perception on the status of Iko Esai Community forest in Akamkpa Local Government Area, Cross River State Nigeria. All four wards of the community were purposively selected for the study. Structured questionnaires were administered to 160 respondents for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive (table and charts) and inferential statistics with chi-square analysis to test for independence or association at 5% level of significance. The results showed that there was significant (P =.0001) change in the status of the forest from the primary closed forest (69.37%) to the primary open forest (71.87%). The major signals of deforestation in the forest included loss of wildlife (63.1%), increase in temperature (57.5%), climate (65.6%) and low rainfall (56.3%). Anthropogenic activities (60%) were considered as the major driver of deforestation with economic factors (48%) topping the list of categories of these drivers. Agriculture (64.38%) was perceived as the major factor causing loss of forest in the community. The general opinion of respondents considered the provision of alternative livelihoods for the local people supported by the development of the vast ecotourism assets that abound in the community. Therefore, the effort of NGOs should be intensified to promote conservation and increase awareness of the dangers of deforestation in the area. Agroforestry should also be incorporated into the agricultural practice for sustainable management of the forest. Afforestation programmes should be carried out to revive the lost community forest in the area.