Socio-Economic And Environmental Benefits Of Non-timber Forest Products In Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Non-Timber Forest Products provide enormous benefits to rural dwellers in Nigeria. These are open-access resources which are often exploited with unlimited restraints and therefore stand the risk of abuse and over-exploitation by the gatherers. This study therefore examined the various benefits and uses of some of these non-timber forest products in the rural communities. There were 100 samples for the study and data were collected by simple random sampling technique. Descriptive and budgetary analytical methods were used. The result showed the economic benefit of non-timber forest products to the communities where 38% was the income generated from non-timber forest products by the communities and where 62% were food provided by non-timber forest products to the communities. It shows the social benefits of non- timber forest products to the communities where 31% were palm wine, 35% were cola, were 20% were oil bean and 14% were all of the above. This shows that the highest non-timber forest products the community benefits from socially is the cola and palm wine. Result shows the environmental benefits of non-timber forest products to the communities. Where 23% were shade, 20% where windbreak, 24% were erosion control, 1.9% were improved soil fertility and 1.4% were all of the above. This result implies that the highest environmental benefit of non-timber forest product is erosion control. The result shows the non timber forest products used by these communities where 12% is Gambeya albida, 14% is Ralpha hookeri, 13% is Garcinia cola, 6% is Treculiar Africana, 7% is Bambusa vugalis.