scholarly journals Forest in the Context of Social Change: Traditional Orientation and Forest Mystification in a Nigerian Forest-Reserve Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 496
Author(s):  
Fausat Motunrayo Ibrahim ◽  
Benson Osikabor ◽  
Bolanle Tawakalitu Olatunji ◽  
Grace Oluwatobi Ogunwale ◽  
Olawale Julius Aluko

This article exposits the mystification of forests among people residing in proximity to a forest reserve in southwestern Nigeria. The theory of material engagement and the ecology of human development support the position that the forest is a classical motivator of traditional culture. Still, socio-cultural change is prevalent. As an element of this change, forest-based social cognition warrants systematic examination in the interest of environmental sustainability. This is because the concurrent conveyance of sustainability-promoting immaterial culture across generations is a component of the pathway to a sustainable future. Moreover, systems theory posits that social events affect each other. Since social change is not solitary but encompassing, forest mystification was examined along with other indicators of traditional orientation including attitude towards―religion, ageing, gender; and cultural enthusiasm. The results indicate that forest mystification is still huge and connected with orientations towards ageing and cultural enthusiasm. This exemplifies the Yorùbá social context’s manifestation of continuity as opposed to change in forest culture; and stands in solidarity with traditional African mentality.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 01-11
Author(s):  
James Nampushi ◽  
Jedidah Nankaya

Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study was to survey the residents’ attitudes on the impact of tourism on Maasai Mara National Reserve and to identify critical issues and tourism development concerns of the Maasai residents associated with the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Methodology: Data for this study was collected from June-October 2015. The participants were residents, 18 and older, from three group ranches. Data were collected using single-stage cluster sampling to identify three group ranches, Koyiaki, Olkinyei, and Siana, in the Maasai Mara region. A semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire was used for face-to-face and photo-elicitation interviews of 24 respondents. Data were subsequently analysed using the Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) technique. Main Findings: The study identified six overarching themes; conservation, cultural change, community development, employment, livestock, and small business. This study found that residents perceived tourism with mixed feelings, both negative and positive. More specifically, residents living closer to the tourism destination experienced direct and tangible benefits as compared to those who live far away. Applications of this study: The results of this study are important for tourism planners, practitioners, and conservation managers in developing holistic strategies that promote sustainable tourism development in the Mara region of Kenya. Novelty/Originality of this study: The success of the tourism industry depends on the involvement of the local people. Lack of cooperation of the local communities in tourism development projects could lead to anger and mistrust, influencing perceptions of tourism and its three basic areas of benefits and costs: social, environmental, and economic. This study, for the first time, attempted to describe the resident’s attitudes towards tourism development in the Mara, results which can be used to improve the participation of local residents to ensure sustainable tourism development in destinations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1449-1452
Author(s):  
P.A. Ukoha ◽  
S.J. Okonkwo ◽  
A.R. Adewoye

This study uses satellite acquired vegetation index data to monitor changes in Akure forest reserve. Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) time series datasets were extracted from Landsat images; extraction was performed on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The datasets were analyzed using Bayesian Change Point (BCP) to monitor the abrupt changes in vegetation dynamics associated with deforestation. The BCP shows the magnitude of changes over the years, from the posterior data obtained. BCP focuses on changes in the long‐range using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, this returns posterior probability at > 0.5% of a change point occurring at each time index in the time series. Three decades of Landsat data were classified using the random forest algorithm to assess the rate of deforestation within the study area. The results shows forest in 2000 (97.7%), 2010 (89.4%), 2020 (84.7%) and non-forest increase 2000 (2.0%), 2010 (10.6%), 2020 (15.3%). Kappa coefficient was also used to determine the accuracy of the classification.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Isaac Adelakun Gbiri ◽  
Nathaniel Olugbade Adeoye

Abstract Forest Reserves in Southwestern Nigeria have been threatened by urbanization and anthropogenic activities and the rate of deforestation is not known. This study examined the vegetation characteristics of Akure Forest Reserve using optical remote sensing data. It also assessed the changing pattern in the forest reserve between 1986 and 2017. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver was used to capture the location of the prominent settlements that surrounded the Forest Reserve in order to evaluate their effects on the forest. Landsat TM 1986, Landsat ETM+ 2002 and Landsat OLI_TIRS 2017 with 30m resolution were classified to assess the spatio-temporal changing pattern of the forest reserve. The results showed different composition of vegetation, which include undisturbed forest, secondary regrowth and farmlands. The study further revealed that in 1986, 2002 and 2017, undisturbed forest constituted 63.3%, 32.4% and 32.1% of the entire land area respectively, while secondary regrowth occupied 8.3% in 1986, 9.5% in 2002 and 15.6% in 2017. The farmlands had erratic growth between 1986 and 2017. It was 16.9% in 1986, 22.1% in 2002 and 17.5% in 2017. The bare ground exhibited inconsistency in the coverage. In 1986 the areal extent was 11.5%, when it increased to 36% in 2002 and decreased to 31.9% in 2017. In conclusion, the study revealed the extent of forest depletion at Akure Forest Reserve and it is therefore important that the residents, the government and the researchers show major concern about some of the critical factors to human beings that are responsible for forest depletion.


Antiquity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (347) ◽  
pp. 1211-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F.W. Higham

Almost half a century has elapsed since the first area excavation of a prehistoric site in north-east Thailand at Non Nok Tha (Bayard & Solheim 2010) (Figure 1). A long and still unresolved debate has ensued, centred on the chronology of the establishment of rice farming and bronze casting, that has dovetailed with further controversies on the pace and nature of social change. Results obtained during the past 20 years of fieldwork focused on the upper Mun Valley of north-east Thailand, together with a new series of AMS radiocarbon determinations from key sites, have thrown into sharp relief contrasting interpretations of two issues: one centres on the timing and origin of the Neolithic settlement; the other on the date and impact of copper-base metallurgy. A consensus through debate would bring us to a tipping point that would see Southeast Asian prehistory turn to more interesting issues of cultural change.


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Steve Jenner ◽  
Brent MacNab ◽  
Richard Brislin ◽  
Reg Worthley

A great number of studies have been reported based on Hofstede’s seminal work on national culture (1980). Our findings for a very recent sample of people attending executive and MBA programs found no significant differences in Power Distance between the United States (U.S.), Mexico and Canada. Our results suggest that caution should be taken in automatically assuming cultural parity between the U.S. and Canada and that more traditional culture positions between the NAFTA member nations may be more subject to change than stable through phenomena like crossvergence. Our findings suggest that Hofstede’s (1980) study provides one useful framework; however, the relative positions of national culture are not necessarily applicable to present day.


Author(s):  
Huajian Cai ◽  
Zihang Huang ◽  
Yiming Jing

Abstract: Over recent decades, massive socioeconomic development and accelerated globalization have led to substantial changes in human culture and psychology. In this chapter, the authors identify a general trend of human cultural change around the globe: individualism has been increasing whereas collectivism has been decreasing. This trend is manifested in diverse social indicators, cultural products, daily practices, and various domains of psychology including cognition, personality, attitudes and values, and human development. Cultural change, however, is not linear. Economic depression as well as other external forces such as disaster and pandemic may interfere with it; some aspects of cultural heritage may also endure over the course of modernization, and multicultural societies are burgeoning around the world. Our review highlights that culture is not a static construct but a dynamic process. Future studies may extend the content and scope of our current research, explore processes and mechanisms underlying cultural change, and examine how individuals, organizations, and governments cope with this change.


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