Bioindicators of Behavior and Regeneration of a Caatinga Area in the Brazilian Semi-Arid - A Review

Studies that allow the understanding of the nutrient cycling processes and maintenance of soil fertility in the caatinga biome are necessary to assist in the proposal of possible management forms, in view of the sustainability of this ecosystem, to provide data in an area of knowledge the quantification of glomalin can be a good indicator of changes caused by the use of the soil and, in turn, therefore, it can become a good indicator of its recovery because it is correlated with important attributes of the soil. In addition to providing data of this process for a better understanding of the soils of the country, a study on this subject will also contribute with a new database for global monitoring. Research that can follow the regeneration rate of Caatinga forests in the Semi-arid will allow the development of models relating to several variables, not currently available for the semi-arid tropical region.

Tree Diversity, Conservation Status and Utilization Potentials of Shasha Rainforest Reserve, Southwestern, Nigeria

An inventory of the entire tree species ≥10cm diameter at breast height (dbh) was carried out within Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) investigation 133 Shasha in Osun State, Nigeria. This study was carried out to ascertain the tree species diversity, conservation status and utilization potentials in the study area. The results were obtained from 16 sample plots of 50×50m in four tracts located through cluster sampling technique. In all, an average total of 295 stands distributed among 66 tree species and 28 families were encountered. High value of Shannon-Weinner index H'=3.73 and Evenness of E=0.89 were obtained for the reserve. At present, only few trees have attained the merchantable size of 48cm dbh. The 63 tree species in the study site were categorized into four groups namely, stable, vulnerable, endangered and threatened status. The result revealed that stable group had 1.59%, vulnerable 4.76%, endangered 44.44% and threatened 49.21%. Result of the Utilization potentials revealed that utility classes 7 - 8 accounted for 55.6% (comprises of tree species with no potential use for sawn timber), while 45.4%. of trees in classes 1 – 6 comprises of trees with timber potentials. This study highlighted species population diversity, conservation status and utilization potentials of the study site and called for ecological application in the management of forest reserves in Nigeria.

Challenges of Conserving and Co-Managing Khadimnagar National Park and Ratargul Fresh Water Swamp Forest in Bangladesh

National Parks are protected areas conserving all types of flora, fauna and their habitats regardless of generic diversification. In Bangladesh, protected area managers face difficulties to conserve these areas. This study is formulated to find out those existing difficulties against effective co-management of natural resources based on the local people’s perception. A purposive sampling is followed by a semi-structured interview to gather data from the field level of Khadimnagar National Park and Ratargul Fresh Water Swamp Forest from September 2019 to December 2019 by interviewing 100 local people for RFWSF and KNP on the basis of a qualitative research method. Both inhabitants and the Forest Department are found to be responsible for inhibiting the effective management of the subjected areas meanwhile difficulties related to motivation, cordiality, alternative job generation, financial support to management authority, tourism management and resource extraction from forests mainly prevail. To ensure substantial sustainability, both of the actors should come forward to find out a way to get rid of this devastation and to ameliorate the socio-economic condition of these areas. Arranging more conferences to raise motivation, awareness about the forest offenses and generating alternative sources of income can be counted as a strategy to reduce pressure on both forests.

Analysis of Arable Farmers Agroforestry Practices in Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

The need to increase arable crop production to keep pace with food demands for a growing population without degrading ecosystems can only be achieved through adoption of agroforestry. Agroforestry practices help to achieve food security, biodiversity, conservation and land sustainability. The 94 famers were chosen using a multistage sampling process. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Most (74%) of respondents practiced home gardening. The significant benefits derived from agroforestry were; food/fruits (97%) and soil improvement/conservation (88%). The mean adoption index was 0.27. The log-likelihood obtained from Tobit was 67.92 indicating that the independent variables significantly explained the variation in the farmer’s adoption decision. Educational level (β=0.426) and farm experience (β=0.597) were both positive and statistically significant at ρ˂0.05; farm income (β=0.568) was significant at ρ˂0.01, and extension contact (β=-0.887, ρ˂0.01) was negative and had a negative impact on agroforestry adoption. The constraints affecting the practice of agroforestry among arable farmers were; poor policies, inadequate extension services, insufficient improved tree species among others. The study recommends intensification of extension services and provision of incentives to farmers to promote agroforestry adoption to achieve increased food production and sustainable land-use systems.