FORESTRY EXTENSION EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND UTILIZATION OF FOREST RESOURCES IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated forestry extension education for sustainable management and utilization of forest resources in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised 348 respondents which were 48 foresters, 248 agric. educators and 62 extension agents; totaling 348 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a 26-item structured questionnaire on a 4-point rating scale. The instrument was face-validated by five experts while Cronbach Alpha reliability test of the instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.77. Out of the 348 copies of the questionnaire administered, 327 copies were completely filled, retrieved and used for the analysis, representing 94 % rate of return. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study identified six (6) roles of forestry extension education and twelve (12) measures for achieving the desired results in forestry extension education. There was no significant difference in the mean ratings of agric. educators, foresters and extension agents on the measures for achieving the desired results in forestry extension. Based on the findings the study conclude that its findings will guide users of the forest on sustainable management and utilization of forest resources for mankind. Hence, the study recommends among others, that forestry extension agents should intensify campaign through various mass media on sustainable utilization of forest resources.