COURSE CODE: FWM 201/FWM 211

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO FOREST AND WILDLIFE

RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
NUMBER OF UNIT: 2 UNITS
COURSE DURATION: TWO HOURS PER WEEK

DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA
 INTRODUCTION TO FOREST RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
(FORESTRY COMPONENT)
• The Forest is a renewable natural resource which produces timber and other products for home and
industry, food for wild and domestic animals, protection of soil and water values and provision of
facilities for recreation.
• Because of the forgoing, it is essential to manage the forest very well scientifically and
economically because it is exhaustible but renewable.
• In the light of the above, forest management have been defined as the application of business
methods and technical forestry principles to the operation of forestry properties.
• Or simply defined as the practical application of all the efficient management and organization of
the forest.
• This subject is concerned with:
• 1. Efficient planning so that the forest can provide the greatest benefits at low cost. Like the
management of any other business enterprises.
• 2. It ensures that over-cutting or under-cutting do not occur through yield regulation
• 3. It ensures correct keeping of records of all operations.
PECULIARITIES OF FORESTRY THAT DISTINGUISH IT FROM OTHER
BUSINESS VENTURES AND SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS.

1.Time Factors: The growth of trees to useful sizes takes a long time. This time that
elapses between establishment and final harvesting is called Rotation. It is considerably
long between 10 – 20 – 50 – 200 years depend on object of management.

2. Market: Market may change during the period of growth and therefore invalidate the
original decision of what product to grow.

3. Capital tied down: The long period involves delayed return – from the initial
investment so that much capital is tied to the volume of maturing timber on the product.
Objects of Management
They express a broad basic purpose of establishing a forest. All objectives must be clearly stated
before embarking on a forest venture. Some objectives are:
1. Provision of permanent cover: For erosion control
2. Provision of a continuous supply of forest products for local use
3. To bring forest to a state of normality and to increase proportion of valuable spp.
4. To obtain maximum sustained annual yield or revenue.
5. To provide facilities for research and education.
6. Supply of services to communities.

The 1o object of good management is the provision of maximum benefit to the greatest number of
people all the time.
FOREST AND WILDLIFE AS RENEWABLE NATURAL
RESOURCES

What is a resource?- A resource is any form of energy and /or matter necessary to satisfy the
physiological needs of humanity or to sustain all various activities leading to production.

• Resources may be classified into two broad groups:

• Products and
• Amenities
Products- include tangible, consumable or directly utilizable materials such as minerals,
timber, wild game, water and soil.

Amenities- involve the transformation of natural features into consumable forms such as when
a waterfall or solar radiation is used to generate electricity or when a sand beach is turned into
a recreation Centre.
What are Natural Resources?
• Natural resources can broadly be defined as those things in the natural
environment that can be used by man.
• Natural resources which lend themselves to exploitation by man are mainly
beneficial.
• Generally, natural resources indicate the potential wealth of a country. This
potential wealth, when properly harnessed by the people of a country, can
become a key factor in economic reconstructions and national development.
• Effective utilization of natural resources is of great aid in industrial development.
Characteristics of Natural Resources
• They are:
• Natural endowment- i.e. they are not man-made. They are gifts of God for free use by man. As naturally
occurring objects, they could be viewed as land – not the soil only, but the sum total of both the edaphic,
climatic factors and the vegetation.

Natural resources can be viewed as the combination of the productive values of the land which include matters
both on and below the surface of the land and which have values for man.

• Location specific – Most natural resources are in-situ. They are where they exist and not mobile. To explore
them, man must go to where resources are located. e.g. oil and mineral explorations. This is a very important
characteristic in view of transportation cost.

Most of the timbers in Ikeji-Ipetu Forest Reserve in Osun State are not exploited due to accessibility problems.
The terrain is undulating , hence a sophisticated method of extraction will be needed in such situation.
Characteristics of Natural Resources (Contd.)
• Uneven Distribution- Natural resources are natural endowment and their distribution is uneven both within and between
countries.. Some countries have monopoly of some.e. g. Bauxite in Jamaica (80% of the production) while the rest is in South
Africa. However, this is not true of forests. Most countries are capable of growing forest – it is not as uneven as other resources.

• Versatility – This means that natural resources can be stored for long period of time without deterioration. This is particularly
true of resources derived from geological processes.e.g. Coal, oil (petroleum). Versatility of timber will not only leave the timber
resources intact, but could lead to increase in timber value – as the timber increases in both height and diameter (volume). The
bigger the timber the more the value. However, if timber is left unharvested after an advanced age of maturity, deterioration may
set in due to pathological hazards – heart rot, etc.

• Finiteness – This refers to the quantity available at a given time. The quantity of natural resources available is absolutely fixed.
This is what the engineers and technologists refer to as “Proven-supply”. i.e. the quantity of the resource known to exist.e.g.
resources obtained through geological processes. Their development requires a time scale and quantity cannot be increased on
the short run.
Characteristics of Natural Resources (Contd.)
• Destructability – Most natural resources are destroyed in the process of use. Resource destruction
could ensue / arise from the process of consumption – coal and firewood for cooking, fuel for
vehicles etc. Most of the problems of desertification and aridization were said to have resulted from
the activities of man on the natural vegetation – shifting cultivation, burning of forest for games and
grazing and browsing of the natural vegetation leading to desertification of the original vegetation.

• Common Property – Ownership of natural resources is not clearly defined since they are gifts of
nature, no man can claim ownership – marble Industry in Oyo State and the attendant rows – deep
sea fishery, forestry are also common properties. Hence, people go into the bush to fetch fire woods,
pick snails etc. Most forest reserves belong to the State and communities, hence cases of illegal
fellers.

• Importance of time factor – For most renewable resources, there is always a waiting period for the
production to be increased. For timber, there is a minimum period for maturity. The growth rate of
most biological organisms are beyond man’s influence.