<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This study assessed the level of community awareness and participation in ecotourism in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria. Data were collected in communities located in four ranges (i.e. administrative and protection zones) of Old Oyo National Park, Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria. The ranges are Tede, Marguba, Sepeteri, and Oyo-Ile. Seven (7) communities out of 27 that are in Tede range were selected, eight (8) were selected from 12 communities in Marguba range, eight (8) were selected from 17 communities in Sepeteri range while eight (8) were selected from 30 communities in Oyo Ile range. The study was a questionnaire survey involving 150 respondents that were randomly selected from communities in the four (4) ranges of the Park. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s HSD, t-test and logistic regression. Results revealed that 48% of the respondents were aware of ecotourism while 52% were not. Also, 46% participated in ecotourism while 54% did not participate. A relationship exists between ecotourism awareness and participation (p&lt;0.01). Community type (p&lt;0.01) was the only predictor of community awareness of ecotourism while community type (p&lt;0.01) and awareness (p&lt;0.01) were the predictors of participation in ecotourism in the park. Awareness, active involvement of communities in stakeholder meetings, decision-making and provision of start-up capital are important for ecotourism development in the park.</p></abstract>

This study assessed the level of community awareness and participation in ecotourism in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria. Data were collected in communities located in four ranges (i.e. administrative and protection zones) of Old Oyo National Park, Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria. The ranges are Tede, Marguba, Sepeteri, and Oyo-Ile. Seven (7) communities out of 27 that are in Tede range were selected, eight (8) were selected from 12 communities in Marguba range, eight (8) were selected from 17 communities in Sepeteri range while eight (8) were selected from 30 communities in Oyo Ile range. The study was a questionnaire survey involving 150 respondents that were randomly selected from communities in the four (4) ranges of the Park. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s HSD, t-test and logistic regression. Results revealed that 48% of the respondents were aware of ecotourism while 52% were not. Also, 46% participated in ecotourism while 54% did not participate. A relationship exists between ecotourism awareness and participation (p<0.01). Community type (p<0.01) was the only predictor of community awareness of ecotourism while community type (p<0.01) and awareness (p<0.01) were the predictors of participation in ecotourism in the park. Awareness, active involvement of communities in stakeholder meetings, decision-making and provision of start-up capital are important for ecotourism development in the park.

Assessment of community awareness and participation in ecotourism in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria

Department of Ecotourism and Wildlife Management, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

This study assessed the level of community awareness and participation in ecotourism in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria. Data were collected in communities...

Assessment of community awareness and participation in ecotourism in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria

Published Online: Sep 01, 2018

Page range: 1 - 12

Received: Feb 23, 2018

Accepted: Jul 20, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2018-0017

Keywords
community, awareness, ecotourism, participation, national park

© 2018 Adekunle Anthony Ogunjinmi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Assessment of community awareness and participation in ecotourism in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria

Published Online: Sep 01, 2018

Page range: 1 - 12

Received: Feb 23, 2018

Accepted: Jul 20, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2018-0017

Keywordscommunity, awareness, ecotourism, participation, national park

© 2018 Adekunle Anthony Ogunjinmi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
community, awareness, ecotourism, participation, national park