TITLE:
Threat Status of Commercially Exploited Trees in the Nigerian Rainforest
AUTHORS:
Francis E. Bisong, Peter Buckley
KEYWORDS:
Threat status, Commercial, IUCN, Exploited Trees, Endangered, Vulnerable, Threatened Species, Extinction
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.4 No.5,
October
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: Unregulated
commercial-scale exploitation of trees is an indication of the extent of threat
to various tree species. The study examined the threat status of commercially exploited trees in
the forest estates of South eastern Nigeria. Specifically, it identified tree
species under threat, and categorized them into threat classes, as well as
determined the rate at which exploited trees were slipping into extinction. The
study utilized the IUCN’s threat categorization criteria, in determining the
threat status of commercially exploited trees. This study combined both
secondary and primary data sources generated through Forest Inventory records,
Tree Felled Analysis records and Participatory Survey. Data such as population
size and density of species, level of exploitation and threat sensitive social
and ecological parameters were obtained and applied against the IUCN criteria.
Twenty-eight (28) trees species representing Thirty-two percent (32%) of
eighty-six (86) commercially exploited trees were identified as threatened,
ranging from the Vulnerable to the Critically Endangered categories. The theory
of small and declining population paradigms were found to be of relevance in
explaining the processes. Nine tree species such as Triplochiton spp., Baillonella toxisperma, Pogaoleosa, Anopyxis spp. among others were considered to require urgent
conservation attention. Recommendations are proposed to halt the process of
decline in the biodiversity of exploited trees.