Survey and Ethnobotanical Investigations of Key Non-Timber Forest Products in Home Gardens and Sacred Forests in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

A survey and ethnobotanical investigations were done in six Local Government Areas (LGAs), Cross River State, Nigeria, to examine the social and economic value and management practices of the primary Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in home gardens and sacred forests. The six LGAs were purposively selected based on the vegetation types. The vegetation types include tropical high forest/freshwater swamp mosaic as ecotype 1, tropical high forest as ecotype 2 and tropical high forest/savannah mosaic as ecotype 3 for Akpabuyo and Akamkpa, Ikom and Obubra, and Obudu and Boki. The study was conducted in 12 sacred forests and 60 home gardens in 30 randomly selected communities within the 11six LGAs. A stratified multi-stage random sampling was used with group interviews, personal observation and structured questionnaires as study tools. Also, a simple close traverse was adopted for area determination for home gardens and sacred forests, while the stock survey approach was used for identification, enumeration and measurements of NTFPs/ tree species in the study areas. One thousand and fifty questionnaires were administered to respondents randomly selected from 30 communities in the six LGAs to provide data on NTFPs. Results showed that 69.5% and 61.5% of the respondents were involved in home garden farming and sacred forest conservation, while 64.2% were farmers and only 21% were involved in NTFPs production to supplement farm income. The product contributed significantly to household food security, and the majority of the respondents (62.9%) were women. Volume production in ecotypes 1, 2 and 3 was 18.40, 14.00 and 13.18 m³/ha, respectively. The analysis of variance showed that the number of stem/ha, the dbh (cm), the based area (m²/ha) and the volume (m³/ha) were not significantly different in the three ecotypes. The results also showed that ethnobotanical practices of NTFPs in home gardens and sacred forests have assisted in having proper methods of conservation and sustainable management of the existing forest products. Recommendations were proffered to eradicate or ameliorate the perceived problems. Finally, this study provides relevant information which would be inestimable in promoting and improving improper management of NTFPs in home gardens and sacred forests.