Urban Dwellers' Attitude and Preferences for Forest Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Forests in Nigerian Cities.

Сажетак

The existence of trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services emphasises the need to understand the preferences of ecosystem service beneficiaries. This study aims to empirically investigate the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of urban forests and the derived ecosystem services in two selected cities (Kano and Sokoto) in northwest Nigeria. Three hundred (500) respondents were selected for the questionnaire administration through interviews and group discussions. Descriptive statistics, contingent valuation method (CVM) and Pearson regression model were employed to analyse the data generated. The results of this study indicate that a substantial portion of respondents in these two cities are aware of the various benefits and importance of urban forests to the peoples' well-being, as revealed by the study results. The mean, frequency counts, and percentages of respondents' preferences for forest ecosystem services were lower than those of the other two cities. The proportion of respondents who are willing to pay for urban forest services is higher than those who do not pay for forest services. This study provides insight into the necessity of citizen participation in managing urban trees as part of their citizen rights and obligations to society. It is envisaged that this study will open up public discourse with decision-makers, town planners and other change agencies concerned with forest and tree resource management on including the total economic value of urban trees in policy, planning and future development projects in cities in developing countries.