Abstract
Aims: To evaluate farmer’s perceptions about the environmental and vulnerability impact of bush burning. Study Design: Field survey. Place and Duration of Study: Southern Guinea savanna of Adamawa State, Nigeria, between 1995 and 2010. Methodology: The respondents interviewed were selected using a simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques proportional to the size of the areas studied. A sample of 120 respondents formed the sample size. Data were collected from hunters, farmers, herdsmen, foresters and civil servants in the study area. At the end of data collection only 100 questionnaires were correctly filled and returned. The remaining 20 were rejected owing to inconsistencies in their responses. Descriptive statistical analyses such as frequency and percentage were used to analyze the data obtained using statistical package for social science (SPSS 13). Results: The results obtained show that 96% of the respondents interviewed were males and 4% females. Most of them were aged between 31 to 40 years with 45% representing active part of the population. 30% of the respondents engaged in farming, 21% hunting, 20% pastoralists, 16% foresters and 13% civil servants. Almost all the respondents agreed that they practice bush burning in order to derive various benefits that include; 24% as a means of land clearing and 18% on maintenance of soil productivity. 23% were on the view that it promotes rapid growth of succulent vegetation for livestock. 18% said that it helps them in their hunting expedition and 14% looked at it as a means of conserving the natural vegetation. At the same time 27% of the respondents maintained that this practice leads to lack of pasture for livestock, 22% pointed out that it leads to destruction of wildlife habitat, others, 18% observed that it brings about reduction in soil fertility, promotes soil erosion Research Article
Highlights
Man’s environment is under constant threat from his own activities resulting from expanding population and this remains one of the biggest challenges to the quality of environment
This study focuses on evaluation of farmer’s perception about the environmental and vulnerability impact of bush burning in the southern guinea savanna of Adamawa State, Nigeria, between 1995 and 2010
The survey findings suggest that farmers and other land users are aware of temporal trends in climate and the status of land, and that their views of climate variations and qualitative changes in land are similar to those of scientists
Summary
Man’s environment is under constant threat from his own activities resulting from expanding population and this remains one of the biggest challenges to the quality of environment. Whether the result of a wildfire or a controlled burning, affects the appearance of the landscape, but the quality of the soil. The landscape may quickly recover after a fire, with fresh new growth and emerging seedlings. Bush burning has a negative effect on soil conditions and soil may take much longer to recover, (NRCS, http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/agronomy/technotes/agtechnoteMT86.html). Bush burning or fire is the chemical reaction between oxygen and fuel which is raised to ignition temperature by heat. The reaction is self sustaining unless extinguished or the fuel concentration falls below minimum level. Most often bush burning results from a rapid exothermic reaction in combination with oxygen and one combustible material (Lemon, 1967). Most often bush burning results from a rapid exothermic reaction in combination with oxygen and one combustible material (Lemon, 1967). Hamid et al (2010) observed that bush burning is part of some countries way of life
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