Contribution of non-timber forest products to livelihoods of communities in southeast Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the value of non-timber forest products (NTFP) and their determinants in communities in the vicinity of the Okwangwo Division of the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. The data for this study were generated from personal interviews conducted in three villages located near the buffer area of the national park. The study showed that income from NTFP was almost 13% of the total annual income of the respondents. Income from NTFP was influenced by factors such as income from non-traditional employment, the distance of respondents' residences to the park, income from farming and age. The results suggest that a shift from primarily subsistence to a more of cash economy may lead to unsustainable exploitation of NTFP.

Keywords:

• sustainable exploitation
• non-timber forest products
• environment
• Nigeria

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jack Sinden, University of New England, Australia, for his useful comments and advice regarding statistical analysis and discussion of the results. We thank the anonymous persons who reviewed this paper for their useful comments.