TITLE:
Socio-Economic Characters and Activities of Support Zone Communities in Gashaka Gumti National Park
AUTHORS:
Zacharia Buba Yaduma, Joyrose Enebuse Adaeze, Mary Omowumi Oluwole, Bijida Zacharia
KEYWORDS:
Gashaka Gumti National Park, Support Zones, Communities, Anthropogenic Factors, Conservation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.7 No.3,
March
26,
2020
ABSTRACT: The study was conducted at Gashaka Gumti National Park to determine socio-economic activities and their relationship with the forest. The Result obtained shows that, the age of the respondents was presented in Table 1. The pooled result indicated that there were 29.82%, for the age class of 36 - 45 years, 28.77%, for the age class of 26 - 35, 20.35%, for the age class of 15 - 25; 13.68%, for the age class of 46 - 55; and 7.37% for the age class of 56 years and above. The result on gender indicated that Males were 75.78%, while female was 24.21%, of the population. The result of marital status revealed that married respondents recorded 58.24%; singles had 29.82% while the widows recorded 11.93%. The results of the family size indicated that the family size of 10 - 14 recorded 37.54%; 5 - 9 family size had 22.46%; 15 - 19 recorded 20.70%; 1 - 4 had 11.23% while 20 and above recorded 8.07%. The result of occupation of the respondent indicated that farmers/grazers recorded 44.91%; business men/women were 18.59%; public servants recorded 14.74%, students were 12.98%, while house wives/widows recorded 8.77%. The educational qualification of the respondents revealed that non formal education recorded 37.89%, primary education recorded 21.40%, adult education, had 15.78%, and post primary education recorded 15.78% while tertiary education had 9.12%. The result of income level of the respondents revealed that N30,000 - N39,000 had 34.38%, N20,000 - N29,000 recorded 23.86%, N10,000 - N19,000, had 23.16%, N40,000 - N 49,000, had 10.88% and N50,000 and above recorded 7.72%. The research reviles that the greater are still in their early forties, but the level of education was lower among the population and which may be the result of the lower income among the population; of which it may have a negative impact on the survival of the forest and its biodiversity. Therefore, more income and better education may help in maintaining a balanced relationship between the population and its environs.