Understanding community perceptions of the importance of ecosystem services from gazetted forests

Abstract

Understanding how protected areas support forest community livelihoods is crucial for informing forest conservation and reducing land degradation. This paper evaluates ecosystem services perceived by communities near three gazetted forest reserves in Nasarawa State, Nigeria: Odu, Risha, and Doma. We ask three questions: i) What ecosystem services do the community perceive they obtain from the gazetted forests? ii) How important do communities perceive the ecosystem services from the gazetted forest reserves to be to wider society? iii) Are there differences in perceptions across the reserves? Data collection involved multistage sampling across three geopolitical zones, using household surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Data analyses employed SPSS and NVivo. Results indicate gazetted forests provide communities with edible fruits, income, agricultural produce, and climate regulation. Highly valued societal benefits include rainfall, land fertility, biodiversity, and climate regulation. Comparative analysis shows traditional worship is highly valued in Odu but less in Doma and Risha. The study recommends forest management consider community dependence on forest products (e.g. food, building materials, herbs) for health and welfare benefits. Communities could facilitate land use planning and zoning of culturally significant areas and assist in formulating forest policies that address interactions between people and forest use.