Abstract

The rapid increase in demand for wood products has contributed to the loss of natural forests in Taraba State. Investment in Private Own Plantations (POPs) is important for increasing wood supply and promoting sustainable forest development. This Study aims to assess community willingness to establish a POP for a sustainable forestry initiative in Taraba State, Nigeria. A total of 360 respondents were selected using a multistage sampling technique. The respondents were drawn from the following categories: timber contractors, Harvesters, Processors, Charcoal producers, among others. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings of the Study show that, majority of the respondents are Youths, Males (80%), married (85.7%), with a moderate household size of 4-7 (57.1%) and with a low educational background (26.3%). Most of the respondents, 350 (100%), are aware of POP. Thirty-one Government Own Plantation (GOP) exist in the study area, with Kurmi having the highest hectares of GOP and seven POP, with Danladi Kwagiri Teak Plantation having the highest number of hectares of land cover for POP in the Study area. Land for the Plantation was acquired by inheritance (54.1%), purchase (34.3), lease (8.6) and gift (5.7%). The purpose of establishing Plantations was Timber, Poles, recreation and Non-timber Forest Products. Inadequate capital, land tenure system, inadequate policies & regulations, long-term gestation period of trees, shortage of labour, poor extension services and poor roads were found to be factors influencing community willingness to establish POP in the Study Area.

Keywords

Government-owned Plantation, Forest Investment, Forest Management, Wood Product Demand