PARTICIPATION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND COMMUNITY IN GOVERNANCE OF , ,

BY

AYESUWA ABIMBOLA EWM/10/9928

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATES STUDIES, THE

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, NIGERIA, IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF

AGRICULTURALTECHNOLOGY (M.AGRIC TECH) IN ECOTOURISM AND

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

DECEMBER, 2019

ABSTRACT

The study on Participation of Local Authorities and Community in Governance of Finima Nature

Park, River State was studied. Focus group discussion and interview methods were used.

Community head, representatives of Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), staff of Finima

Nature Park and local authorities were the respondents. Data collected were analyzed qualitatively.

Result revealed that the local community engaged in different types and forms of participation such as of stakeholders’ participation, integrated conservation, development project, local support, information giving, consultation, functional participation and interactive participation. The contributions of the locals to conservation were in form of lease of land, peaceful co-existence and information giving around the park. The presence of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and

FinimaNature Park (FNP) has in turn contributed to the livelihood of the Finima community and surrounding settlements of the Park in form of employment, electricity and good road network.

Constraints identified militating from this study were unequal sharing of benefit by the host community, neglect by NCF, poverty and unemployment. It is recommended that the NLNG and

NCF should have a round table talk with the bordering settlements to identify the major needs as this will help to avoid conflicts and promote peaceful co-existence. Efforts should also be made to list the Park as a Ramsar site to give it an International recognition.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The role of protected areas in ensuring nature conservation and promoting sustainable management of natural resources cannot be overemphasized. Protected areas also play important roles in encouraging trans-boundary cooperation and significantly contributing to achieving environmental cooperation in situations of latent or open conflict. The first Protected Area (PA) in the world came into establishment as a result of the response from the western civilization to uncontrolled degradation of and ecosystem services (Lane, 2001; Pretty and Smith

2004, Chape et al., 2008). Ever since, the number of Protected Areas (PAs) around the world has increased exponentially. While this is an achievement, the establishment of PAs alone cannot safeguard perpetuation of biodiversity (Aswani and Weiant, 2004; Pretty and Smith, 2004; Hayes

2006; Ban et al., 2008).

Consequently, many parks have failed to consider other important factors, including social, cultural, and political issues. Most protected areas in the world have local communities residing within their boundaries or surrounding communities dependingon non forest timber products

(NTFPs) for their livelihoods. Conventional management approaches were inclined towards seeing that people and nature were referred to as separate entities and this has resulted in considerable social cost, mainly to local communities, and has prevented the effective involvement of many actors in conservation efforts. Frequently, communities are forbidden from extracting natural resources that are important for their livelihoods, and in many instances, traditional communities are removed from their lands with little consultation or adequate compensation (Jim and Xu, 2002;

Brown 2003; and Anthony, 2007). Inevitably, this has often triggered adverse social impacts on Full text of this document can be accessed by visiting the Post Graduate Research Unit of Albert Ilemobade Library, FUTA or contact the Reference Librarian via [email protected]