Eco-tourism in Cross River State: Towards Conservation of Biodiversity Among forest Communities 0 0
Keywords:
Eco-tourism, Conservation, Biodiversity, forest Communities, Cross River StateAbstract
This study explores the eco-tourism and conservation of biodiversity among forest communities of Cross River State, Nigeria. The research was guided by five specific objectives, which include: to assess the various ecotourism activities. This study adopts a cross-sectional research design, which involves the collection and analysis of data from a population or a selected subgroup at a single point in time or over a short period. The study population comprises 15,851 within the three communities across the southern and central senatorial districts. This study employs a random sampling technique. The rationale for this approach stems from the predominantly agrarian and forest-resource-dependent nature of the communities The sample for the study consisted one hundred and fourty four (144) respondents from the three community. The Pearsons product Moment Correlation Analyses and One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyses the data generated at .05 level of significance. The results of data analyses uncovered that that there is no significant relationship between ecotourism activities and biodiversity conservation practices in the studied area. Also, for the second analysis indicated that there is substantial association between biodiversity conservation methods and socio-economic gains in the study area. Finaly for the third hypotheses its analysis indicated that there is no substantial correlation between ecotourism activities and biodiversity protection practices in the studied area. Test of hypothesis three, the ANOVA revealed a significant difference between groups demonstrating that community participation in ecotourism activities significantly impacts biodiversity conservation practices within the research region. Based on the study's findings, recommendations among others that Government authorities and relevant stakeholders involved in biodiversity conservation should increase funding and create more investment opportunities to support the development and sustainability of ecotourism activities, while also strengthening biodiversity conservation efforts within the forest communities
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