Mangrove forest ecosystem utilization for sustainable livelihood in Calabar South, Nigeria

Abstract

The mangrove forest ecosystem plays a very dominant role in livelihood sustainability. This ecosystem abound several resources, which could be harnessed for man’s use. It is the intention of this paper to examine various ways in which the mangrove forest ecosystem has been utilized in the study area. Five communities identified with mangrove exploitation were chosen for the study. 400 copies of questionnaire were distributed to the communities. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected from the field. The result of the analysis shows that mangrove wood was used for cooking, fish smoking, building, bakery, charcoal making and staking. The mangrove ecosystem was being used for farming, fishing, poultry keeping and livestock farming. Also, it was found that between 1989 and 2009, a total of ₦13,633,140 and ₦27,591,120 was generated as revenue to both the government and the people from cutting a total of 130,724 mangrove trees. Between 2010 and now, there is no record on income generated and the volume of mangrove wood cut because of the ban on logging in the state.

Keywords: Mangrove, forest, ecosystem, utilization.