Hello, welcome to this blog on Forest Management in Agriculture.
Table Of Contents
- Define the meaning of forest
- Meaning Of forestry
- Importance of forest and forestry
- Forest management practices
- Revision Questions
Meaning of Forest, Forestry and silverculture
Forest can be defined as a large area of land covered with trees and bushes, either growing wild or planted for some purposes.
Forestry, on the other hand, is the study and management of forests and Forest resources. In other words, it is the art of planting, tending and managing Forest, including the utilization of their products.
Siverculture: Silver culture is the study of forest trees and other related trees.
Common Forest Trees
Common tress usually found in the forest are:
- Iroko
- Obeche
- Mahogany
- Nigerian walnut
- Ebony
- Calm wood
- Opepe
- Afara
- Teak and Abura
Forest Reserves in Nigeria
Meaning of Forest Reserve: Forest reserves are large areas of land where plants, either growing naturally or planted, are specially preserved by government for specific purposes.
Some Forest Reserves in Nigeria are:
- Mamu River Forest Reserve in Anambra State.
- Omo Forest Reserve in Ogun State
- Afi river Forest Reserve in Cross River State.
- Okomu Forest Reserve in Edo State
- Anara Forest Reserve in Kaduna State.
- Shasha River Forest Reserve in Ogun State.
- Sakpoba Forest Reserve in edo state.
- Zamfara Forest Reserve in Zamfara State.
- Sanga River Forest Reserve in plateau state.
- Awba Hills of Forest reserve in Oyo State.
Important or Uses of the Forest
Forest is very important for several reasons. It is very important for government to encourage the planting of trees because of its usefulness in the following ways.
- Provision of food
- Provision of fuel
- Provision of medicinal herbs
- Profession of employment
- Forest serves as windbreak
- Formation of rain
- Prevention of soil erosion
- Addition of nutrients to soil
- Home of wild animals
- Forest serves as tourist centers
- Provision of foreign exchange
- Provision of timber
- Provision of Pulp
- It’s beautifies the environment
- Reduces atmospheric pollution
- Resources Of raw materials
Management of the Forest
In order to ensure the continuous supply of timber from the forest, the following management practices to be adopted:
- Forest regulations
- Selective exploration
- Deforestation
- Regeneration
- Afforestation
- Tuangya system
Forest Regulation: These are laws promulgated by government in form of edicts, decrees and by-laws to prevent people from exploiting or indiscriminate tapping of Forest resources. This regulation, therefore, ensure the preservation of Forest resources.
Forest Regulations in Nigeria includes:
- The Prohibition of bush burning
- Ban on indiscriminate cutting of timber trees
- Encouraging people to plant trees
- ban on collection of leaves and firewood from the forests
- ban on Farming in forest reserves
- People are to obtain licenses so as to secure the permission to enable them to cut down trees for human needs. The felling quantity should be based on the number of Forest stands which must be determined before felling.
Selective Exploration: Selective exploration is the process of cutting or harvesting only matured trees in a forest. It is a way of concentrating certain selected species of timber in the forest reserve. The system allows for the harvesting of older trees while the younger ones remains as cover to the surface of the forest. It is the legal felling of trees based on certain criteria such as maturity and species.
Advantages of Selective Exploration
- It ensures the concentration of selected species of timber in the forest.
- It protests the soil from erosion
- It ensures the continuous supply of timber
- It serves as a revenue base for the government.
- It prevents indiscriminate felling of timber by giving license to saw Millers by state forestry division.
- It also prevent illegal felling of trees and farming by using Forest guards to police the forest.
- Undesirable species of timber are eliminated by this method.
Deforestation: Deforestation is the continuous removal of Forest stands (trees) either by Bush burning or indiscriminate felling or without replacing them. Visit my other blog here on full explanation on deforestation
Causes of Deforestation
- Unfavorable climate Factors
- Man’s farming activities
- Timber exploitation
- Mining/industrialization
- Natural disaster
- Government policies
Regeneration: Regeneration is the process of Forest regrowth after it has been exploited. It is a deliberate government policy in the restoration of the forested area after exploitation to balance the ecosystem.
it can occur either by re-growing from Old stumps or deliberate planting of new Forest seedlings in a deforested area. It may be natural or artificial.
Types of Regeneration
There are two main types of regeneration. These are:
- Natural Regeneration: In natural regeneration, there is regrowth of new plants from Old stumps. under favorable environment, there exist the growth and development of new tree or volunteers trees from Old stumps.
- Artificial Regeneration: This involves the natural planting of New Forest seedlings in a deforested area. In other words, forest trees are established deliberately in a plantation.
Advantages of Natural Regeneration
- It is less expensive when compared with artificial Regeneration
- It does not require former stages in plantation establishment.
- It brings about the stabilization of natural ecosystem in the area of its establishment.
- It does not require special management skills.
Afforestation: Afforestation is the process of establishing forest plantations in any area. It involves the complete remover of natural vegetation before planting New Forest species. In Nigeria, it is popularly referred to as tree planting campaign in which two seedlings of trees are recommended to be planted to replace any one plant harvested. Early stages of afforestation May include tuangya (which is the planting of trees and crops on the same piece of land) to maximize the use of land and protect seedlings.
Advantages of Afforestation
Afforestation has many advantages which include the following:
- It leads to additional of organic matter, resulting in an increase in soil fertility.
- It provides a regular supply of raw materials, e.g, timber for industries.
- It prevent desert encroachment.
- It increases the forest fauna (wildlife) in the area concerned.
- It builds up the micro-climate and cools down the environment.
- It prevents the leaching of plant nutrients.
- It increases soil moisture retention.
- It increases the amount of rainfall in the area.
- It helps to build up the soil.
Taungya system: Taungya system is defined as the planting of arable crops at early stages of Forest establishment and the arable crops are harvested before the trees form canopies.
This system is a management practice which involves the planting of food crops and some forest trees at the same time until the canopy of the trees close up. It is a system which involves the integration of Agriculture with forestry.
Conditions necessary for the practice of taungya system
- Scarcity of land
- Over-population
- Unemployment
- Government policies
- Low standard of living
- Granting of incentives
Kindly visit here for full details on taungya system here.
Revision Questions
- (a) Define Forest (b) list 10 uses of the forest and its resources.
- Briefly discuss the management of Forest.
- Write short notes on the following (a) selective exploration (b) regeneration (c) afforestation
- (a) Describe briefly five management methods adopted in the forest areas to ensure continuous timber supply (b) enumerate six benefits derived from forestry.
- Define taungya system,
- Define Afforestation.
- Discuss briefly the causes of deforestation.
- Write short note on the following: (a) regeneration (b) selective exploration