Benefits of forest legislation enforcement on the Status of Onigambari Forest Reserve

Forest legislation enforcement is a fundamental strategy needed for the regulation of use and development of forest reserves. Effective law enforcement is necessary for continued production of goods and services. However, gaps have been noticed in the forest legislations' enforcement in the study area. Simple random sampling was used to select 93 forest dwellers from 3 purposively selected adjoining communities in Onigambari forest reserve: Onigambari (28), Busogboro (38) and Onipe (27). Samples were drawn in proportionate to sizes. A set of questionnaire was used to obtain data on factors responsible for weakness in enforcement of forest legislations and various benefits being derived by the host community dwellers from the use of forest reserve irrespective of the existence of forest legislations. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit regression at α0.05. Respondents were 42±13.7 years, mostly male (75.9%) and married (81.9%). The identified factors responsible for weakness in enforcement of forest legislations included low activities of extension agents (77%) and lack of effective supervision by the representatives of the State governments (Managers). Benefits being derived by the forest dwellers were achievement of sustainable forest production, employment generation and attention to road network with odd-ratios, 62.18, 2.10 and 1.70 respectively. The study substantiate the existence of weakness in enforcement of forest legislations in Onigambari forest reserve and also revealed an array of benefits being derived by the forest dwellers. Therefore for continuity and improvement in the goods and services provided by the reserve, it is necessary for the government to build institutional capacity so as to fostering better enforcement of forest legislations and compliance.