Capacity Building for Forestry Development: Implication for Sustainable Forestry Management in South-West Nigeria

The study was carried out to assess the impact of capacity building and its implication on sustainable forestry management in south-west Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 152 forestry officials across the forestry administrative zones in the southwest Nigeria. Structured questionnaire were used with oral interview. Questions were asked on staffing, funding, institutional structures, staff training and development, qualification of staff, salary, legal and policy issues and the issue of rights and tenure. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results revealed that across all the states in the South-west Nigeria, most of the officials (32.9%) were uniformed or vocational staff, followed by the professionals (25%), 16.5% were boundary guards, 14.5% technicians and 11.2% forest attendants. Only 36.2% of the forestry staff indicated that regular staff training was organized by the state forest services. 77 percent of the respondents indicated that forestry staffs were inadequate while 77.6% were not satisfied with their present salary. Sustainable forest management in Nigeria has suffered serious setbacks due to inadequate staff and the training and development of the available ones. The government should spontaneously respond with appropriate political will and proper funding which should be both adequate and timely.