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INTRODUCTION

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RESOURCES IN THE GOLA FOREST RESERVE, EASTERN SIERRA LEONE By Samuel Faraday Saidu Final Year-B.Sc.(Hons)Env & Dev. INTRODUCTION.

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INTRODUCTION

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  1. SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RESOURCES IN THE GOLA FOREST RESERVE, EASTERN SIERRA LEONEBySamuel Faraday SaiduFinal Year-B.Sc.(Hons)Env & Dev.

  2. INTRODUCTION Forests are nature’s most beautiful and versatile renewable resource, providing simultaneously a wide range of economic, social, environmental and cultural benefits and services. The world wide demand for their numerous functions and outputs is increasing with the expanding population, while the global forest resource is shrinking either as a result of over harvesting, deforestation and permanent conversion to other forms of land use in many tropical regions.

  3. CONT. Forest areas cover approximately 3.95 billion ha, accounting for 30.2% of the total land area of the world. But the global forest area continues to diminish by 7.317 million ha annually (average from 2000 to 2005 F.A.O). The most seriously affected areas are the tropical forests of South America, Africa and South-East Asia. But some temperate forests, especially in China, have increased their area.

  4. CONT. • The contraction and expansion of forest areas vary widely between regions. But with such, forest plays vital and different roles in sustainable development and hence the Mitigation of Climate and the use of the forest resources are some of it roles.

  5. FOREST- defined • Forest can then be defined as a complex ecosystem consisting mainly of trees that buffer the earth and support a myriad of life forms. • The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) defined forest as land with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10% and area of more than 0.5 hectare. The trees should be able to reach a minimum height of 5 m at maturity in situ.

  6. Aim The aim of this research is to investigate the rate at which forest resources in the Gola Forest Reserve, Dodo Chiefdom are being used and conserved.

  7. Objectives • To find out the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of forest users. • To identify the types of key forest resources. • To find out the benefit derived from forest resources • To assess the methods used for conserving forest resources

  8. Methodology • Description of study area: the study area for this research was Guala forest reserve. This area comprises of hills and some areas are gently slope. It is situated at Dodo chiefdom in the Kenema district, an eastern part of Sierra Leone and it is purely a rural setting. • Population sample: the population sample here includes all the inhabitants in the study area.

  9. Sampling: simple random sampling technique was used. • Sample size: I targeted and interviewed a total number of forty respondents. • Data collection: the data that were used for this research are mainly primary and secondary data. • Research instrument: the research instrument used was a semi-structured recorded questionnaire. • Statistics: summary of statistics, simple percentages and tables were used.

  10. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS • Table1. Shows the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of forest users.

  11. Table 2 Shows the types of key forest resources

  12. Table 3. Benefits derived from forest resources

  13. Table 4 Shows the various methods of conserving/managing forest resources

  14. Picture indicating some forest users

  15. Photo of timber producers

  16. CONCLUSION From my findings I realized that 70% to 80% of the inhabitants living in this area are dependent on forest resources. Besides it is from these forest resources they get their livelihood to sustained themselves, their community and families, and this has greatly resulted into massive lost of forest resources (trees, wildlives, water)

  17. Recommendations For the fact that forest resource are very important in the lives of people and the environment as a whole, if not properly conserved/managed our future generation would not benefit from these forest resources. Therefore, to ensure the sustenance of these forest resources, the following recommendations should be highly considered and practiced. • Reforestation as a part of the timber license agreement, issued to private individuals or cooperation involve in forest resource utilization. • Strengthening of government units directly involve in forest resource conservation/management, inline with sustained implementation of long-term improvement research and development programmes. • Long term commitment and support from government, international and local agencies and research institution is needed to implement effective research and conservation strategies for forest resources. • Education and training activities should be carried out on regular bases as to how to conserve/manage forest resources.

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