REVITALIZATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the study

Revitalizing: Revitalizing is commonly used to describe different forms of land redevelopment, including brownfield remediation, commercial corridor redevelopment, and historic building rehabitation. As available land within our urban cores decrease, land reuse and revitalizing becomes a critical strategy for creating sustainable development for the 21^st century.

The land revitalizing program was created to restore and return land and natural resources to communities in order for them to reap the economic ecological and social use of the revitalized land.

Community development is a broad term applied to the values, practices and academic disciplines of Civic leaders, activists, citizens and professionals to improve local communities. Community development empowers individuals and groups to affect change by providing them with skills that build their communities.

Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such as land, water, plants and animals with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generation (Stewardship).

Natural resource management deals with managing the way in which people and natural landscape interact. It brings together land use planning, water management, biodiversity conservation, and the future sustainability of industries like agriculture, mining, tourism, fisheries and forestry. It recognises that people and their livelihoods rely on the health and productivity of our landscapes, and their actions as stewards of the land play a critical role in maintaining this health and productivity.

Natural resource management specifically focuses on a scientific and technical understanding of resources and ecology and the life supporting capacity of those resources. Environmental management is also similar to natural resource management. In academic contexts, the sociology of natural resource is closely related to but distinct from natural resource management.

In revitalizing a community’s development through natural resources management: It means to give new life or energy towards the community development through planning and management of natural resources present and available to that community. It means using the available natural resources in the community in providing necessary funds and resources required to develop the community towards the sustainable economy and environment.

Natural resources (economically referred to as land or raw materials) occur naturally with in environments and communities that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind. That is, it occurs in a natural resources is often characterized by amounts in biodiversity existence in various ecosystem.

Natural resources are derived from the environment many of them are used for essential for our survival while others are used for satisfying our wants. Natural resources can be further classified in other different ways, such as renewable and non renewable resources,

Natural resources management refers to the management of natural resources such as land water, soil, plants and animals etc with particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. Natural resources management is congruent with the concept of sustainable development – a scientific principle that forms the basics for sustainable global and management and environmental governmental governance. Conserve and preserve natural resources.

• Statement of problems

The main factor or problems that necessitated this research is that the incidence of decay & degradation in community development through natural resources management.

Land use and land management practices have a major impact on natural resources including water, soil, nutrient, plants and animals. Land use information can be used to develop solutions for natural resources management issues such as salinity and water quality for instance, water bodies in a region that has been deforested on having erosion will have different water quality that those in areas that are forested.

According to report by the United Nation’s food and Agriculture Organization, land degradation has been exacerbated where there has been an absence of land use planning or of as orderly execution on the existence of financial or legal incentive that have led to the wrong land use decisions, or one-sided central planning leading to over-utilization of the land resources.

For instance, as a consequence the result has often been misery for large segment of the local population and destruction of valuable ecosystems. Such narrow approaches should be replaced by a technique for the planning and management of land resources that is integrated and holistic & where land users are controlled.

The negative effects posed in the area of the study include

1. Urban expansion and other human activities causing exploitation of the community environment through excessive waste generation.
2. Forestry degradation which includes activities unsustainable timber exploitation.
3. The deterioration of the environment due to contusions’ increased pressure from the population growth.
4. Unsustainable resources and poor management.

• Aim and Objectives

Aim: In African there are many ingenious and effective’s ways through which indigenous and other local communities are using for the natural resources planning and management. It empowers local communities and non-government organization to promote initiative for natural resources management which involves tree planting, nursery development etc.

Objectives: The objectives of this study are:

1. To know how the increment of economic activities of a community assist in effective management of environmental natural resources.
2. To understand the level of exploitation caused by natural resource degradation on the basic needs of the rural poor.
3. To find out if the reduction of rural poverty essential to achieving sustainable natural resources management.
4. To know the extent in which irregular development or unplanned community development has promoted ecologically damaging activities in the environment.

• Research Questions

In the course of working on this, the research questions are as following:

1. Does increment of economic activities of a community in anyway assist in effective management of environmental natural resources?
2. Is reduction of rural poverty essential to achieving sustainable natural resources management?
3. Is exploitation of the basic needs of the rural poor in anyway causing natural resource degradation?
4. Does irregular development or unplanned community development promote ecologically damaging activities in the environment?

Research Hypothesis

Hypothesis one

Hi –  There is significant in reduction of rural poverty in achieving natural resource management.

Ho – There is no significant reduction of rural poverty in achieving natural resource management.

Hypothesis Two

Hi- increment of economic activities of a community helps in effective management of environmental natural resources.

Ho: increment of economic activities of a community does not helps in effective management of environmental natural resources.

• Significance of the study

Forest play a crucial role in the economics of many African communities and countries: providing timber and industrial materials as well as contributing to tourism, recreation and cottage industries. Tropical forest help regulate global climate through the absorption of carbon dioxide. Deforestation and forest degradation continue to occur in environment due to variety of cause, including demographer pressures, poverty, productions and consumption patterns, law tenure patterns and land speculation. Other important factors that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation include illegal logging, grazing pasture, illegal cultivation, the demand for firewood and charcoal, natural climatic events and forest tries to name only but a few. Frequently asked question date indicate that the annual rate of deforestation in African was 0.7% between 1990 and 1995 with the highest being recorded in the most western parts of the African continent. The data also indicate the rate of a forestation is far less than of deforestation.

Therefore the significant of this study stress strongly on:

1. To promote new traditional approaches to increasing food production without losing on farm biodiversity.
2. To develop capacity and learning process to allow local community to influence the formulation of natural and international plans and policies.
3. To disseminate best practices available among non-governmental organizations and other stake holders.
4. In light of this phenomenon, this study proves very important to our rural communities (Oko in this case) for it would greatly assist in
5. Promoting sustainable community development.
6. Providing means and more economic activities for the community indigenes.

• Encourage the spirit of specialization and giving the community a sense of purpose.
  • Scope of the study

This research study is to identify the importance and usefulness in natural resources management in creating a functional living environment in Oko town. It will also identify appropriate ways to best exploit the natural resources for physical development, to provide, necessary resources for development. Therefore, it is confined to the village of Ifite – Oko, Ezioko, Ihengwu, Okoazi and Eziabo. The study will also find out the problem hindering sustainable development and natural resources management.

• Limitation to the study

Certain problems and difficulties were met while carrying out the survey for this study. Right from the observation visit to the community, administering of questionnaires and processing of collected data or information.

Some of these problems are as follows;

1. Acquisition of a base map: It proved difficult to acquire the existing base map of the community to aid the study.
2. Acquiring Respondents: It was difficult differentiating a learned fellow from an illiterate person, so as to acquire accurate answers for the study.
3. Poor participation of the public: In the course of research and tendering of questionnaire, we met with the willingness of the indigents to participate, probably because of mass illiteracy of the community.
4. Inadequate Resources in the community: The available resources in the community which is relatively low this hinders the study by making difficult for provision of more alternatives to carry required out this study.

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