ecotourism resources mapping of t.a. afolayan wildlife park in ondo state, nigeria

Olaniyi, Esan, Odewumi, Oladeji, and Oyeleke

Proceedings of NTBA/NSCB Joint Biodiversity Conference; Unilorin 2016 (21-31pp)

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Ecotourism Resources Mapping of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park in Ondo State, Nigeria

*Olaniyi, O. E., Esan, D. B., Odewumi, O.S., Oladeji, S.O. and Oyeleke, O.O.

Department of Ecotourism and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

*Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Adequate knowledge on the occurrence and spatial distribution of the tourism products in an ecosystem is

very important toward promoting its sustainable use through ecotourism and its effective marketing for maximal

patronage. This research aimed to create an attribute database of ecotourism resources and produce an ecotourism

resource map of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park, Ondo State, Nigeria. Information on the ecotourism resources of the

study area were obtained through secondary data collection method and field survey. Spatial data on ecotourism

resources were collected using a hand-held Global Positioning System and uploaded into QuantumGIS software

environment. Thirty woody species belonging to twenty four families and twenty species of birds belonging to

twelve families were identified. Eighteen fauna species belonging to twelve families were managed under insitu and

exsitu management strategies. Fauna species with conservation status of vulnerable (Cercocebus torquatus,

Psittacus erithacus and Geochelone sulcata) and endangered (Balearica regulorum) were observed. Also, ten

human-made ecotourism facilities and three nature trails with a total length (386.84m) were identified and

pictorially represented. However, it will be highly imperative for more flagship and endangered fauna species to be

stocked, and the picnic sites to be situated far away from the pens in order to mitigate the negative impacts of

tourists’ visitations on the animals.

Keywords: Ecotourism resources, GIS, Mapping, Wildlife Park, Sustainable Development Goals 15

INTRODUCTION

Ecotourism has been growing rapidly over the last

decades (Yadav, 2002), being the fastest growing

sector of tourism and has been encouraging visitors

all across the world to areas of high and interesting

features either anthropogenic or natural (Holden,

2003). Its main focus to satisfy the tourist’s needs

and benefits the local community without destroying

the ecotourism resources for the benefit of future

generations had been unrivalled (Mohammed, 2007).

Although, the environment is the main base for the

natural and cultural resources attracting tourist

worldwide (Smits and Shousha, 1998; Bonn et al.,

2005), its conservation is very important for the long

term success of ecotourism development.

The fall in the Nigeria’s economy due to the high

dependence on crude oil, which price is presently

dwindling in the global market calls for diversifying

into other sectors. However, ecotourism had been

found to be a dynamic phenomenon and worldwide

accepted business set to balance and make into reign

the stability of the nation’s wealth, and improves

locals and tourist satisfaction (UNEP, 2006).

Promoting ecotourism in Nigeria can be a better

approach to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity

values into national and local planning, development

processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts

by 2020 – which is in consonance with Goal 15.9 of

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As such,

adequate knowledge on the occurrence and spatial

distribution of the tourism products of an ecosystem

is very important toward promoting its sustainable

use through ecotourism and its effective marketing

for maximal patronage.

Tourism products are the attractions in a specific

location that influence the inflow of tourists to a

particular ecotourism destination (Fennell, 1999).

According to COMCEC (2013), they embrace all

elements with which the visitor to a destination

comes into contact such as infrastructure (e.g.

transport, utilities) the service personnel, places of

lodging, attractions and activities, facilities and

amenities. They involve attractions, activities and

facilities that are specifically provided for the visitor.

Moreover, ecotourism resources form a significant

element of tourism products. Inadequate information

on the spatial distribution of ecotourism resources in

an ecotourism destination remains a germane issue

hindering tourist satisfaction during visitation.

Uluocha (2014) opined that mapping should form an

integral part of the overall tourism development

package, but observed the near total neglect of maps

and mapping in the on-going crusade to make

tourism an all-time notable foreign exchange earner

in Nigeria. Ecotourism resource mapping has

remained an efficient tool to have a prior

understanding of the ecotourism attractions and

facilities, by visually highlighting landmarks and

other points of interest for visitors to an unfamiliar

ecotourism destination. It has been a technique for

gaining better insight into the occurrence, location,

undistributed access and distribution of ecotourism

resources within an ecotourism destination.

mailto:[email protected]



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However, Geographical Information System had

been a key tool for analyzing the ecotourism resource

base spatially and providing insights into planning

challenges (Van der Merwe and Van Niekerk, 2013).

It is one of such tools that are capable of answering

questions about where ecotourism facilities and

resources are located in order to aid in an effective

decision-making in the competing economic, social

and environmental demands of sustainable

development (Akukwe and Odum, 2014). Although,

many research works had been conducted on

ecotourism resources in the study area, but little had

been known on the integration of Geographic

Information Systems technology into ecotourism

resources management. However, the study aimed to

create an attribute database of ecotourism resources

and produce an ecotourism resource map of T.A.

Afolayan Wildlife Park, Ondo State, Nigeria.

METHODOLOGY

Geographic description of the Study Area

This study was carried out in the T.A Afolayan

Wildlife Park, Federal University of Technology

Akure. The Wildlife Park is located at Akure, the

state capital of Ondo State, Nigeria. The study area

(Figure 1) lies between latitudes 7.29350N and

7.29630N and longitudes 5.1425

0E and 5.1445

0E. Its

land area is about 94.18m2(9.418 hectares). This

study area is located on elevation 369m – 383m

above sea level. The study area is under laid with

crystalline basement rock which imposes a partially

rugged topographic relief on the area (Oguntuase and

Agbelusi, 2013). The lower elevation is 369m above

sea level while the highest elevation is 383m above

sea level. The terrain of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park

can be described as undulating with small outcrop

scattered about. The study area enjoys a favorable

rainfall with an average rainfall of 1650 to 1700 mm

annually (Afolayan and Agbelusi, 1987).

The study area is one of the vegetation typical of

secondary forest with herbaceous undergrowth. The

vegetation is a combination of tropical trees, shrubs

and herbaceous plants in great diversity such as:

Tetrapleura tetraptera, Trichilia emetic, Newbouldia

laevis, Jatropha gossypifolia, Aframomum melegueta,

Elaeis guineensis, Diospyros spp, Khaya ivorensis,

Milicia excelsia, Aspilia africana etc. (Abu, 2010).

The park is dominated with a large diversity of

rodents, though other families of animal do exist. The

fauna resources in general include: Philantomba

maxwelli, Thryonomys swinderianus, Sciurus

vulgaris,, Python sabae etc. (Idowu, 2010).

Figure 1: T.A Afolayan Wildlife Park in Ondo State, Nigeria

Searching and categorization of ecotourism

resources

A reconnaissance survey was undertaken at the

commencement of the study. Information on the

ecotourism resources of the study area were obtained

through secondary data collection method. Past

literature works from the departmental library of

Ecotourism and Wildlife Management in the Federal

University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria was

consulted to provide background knowledge and



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relevant information on the ecotourism resources.

Also, field survey was conducted to assess and

estimate the status of various ecotourism resources

and features in the study area.

Production of comprehensive ecotourism resource

map

Spatial data of ecotourism resources’ locations were

collected using hand-held Global Positioning System

with their photographs using a digital camera. The

park boundaries and nature trails were tracked using

the same equipment. These data were uploaded into

QuantumGIS software (QGIS 2.8) environment for

interpretations. Finally, the map of ecotourism

resources were produced using GIS overlay,

including geo-tagging each of ecotourism resource

location’s with its photograph to generate an

ecotourism resource map.

Data analysis

Phyto-sociological parameters of the woody species

The formulae below were used for the computation

of the phyto-sociological parameters of the woody

species, birds and fauna in the study area.

Number of Taxa (family) = (S)

Total number of individuals (species) = (n)

Dominance = 1-Simpson index. Ranges from 0

(all taxa are equally present) to 1 (one taxon

dominates the community completely).

Simpson index = 1-dominance. Measures

’evenness’ of the community from 0 to 1.Note

the confusion in the literature: Dominance and

Simpson indices are often interchanged.

Shannon Werner diversity index (entropy), H: A

diversity index, taking into account the number

of individuals as well as number of taxa. Varies

from 0 for communities with only a single taxon

to high values for communities with many taxa,

each with few individuals.

∑

Margalef’s richness index =

( )

( )

Where S is the number of taxa, and n is the

number of individuals.

RESULTS

Woody species composition

Table 1 presents woody species composition of T.A.

Afolayan Wildlife Park. Thirty (39) species of woody

species belonging to twenty four (24) families were

identified. Family Leguminosae had the highest

species occurrence (6) - Dialum guineense,

Pterocarpus osun, Leucaena leucocephala, Afzelia

africana, Albizia ferrunginea and Albizia zygia,

while seventeen (17) families had the least species

occurrence (1) - Caricaeae, Compositae,

Combretaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae,

Loganiaceae, Malvaceae, Menispermaceae,

Meliaceae, Musaceae, Myrtaceae, Poaceae, Palmae,

Sapotaceae, Verbenaceae and Zingiberaceae all

having a specie each (Adekola, 2013). The values of

the woody vegetation indices of T.A. Afolayan

Wildlife Park computed were Shannon Werner

Diversity Index (2.983), Simpson Eveness (0.9362),

Simpson Dominance (0.06377) and Margalef

Richness (6.278).

Fauna species composition

Table 2 presents the fauna species compositions of

T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park. Eighteen fauna species

belonging to twelve families were identified. The

family Cercopithecidae had the highest occurrence of

species compositions (5) - Cercopithecus mona,

Cercopithecus tantalus, Erythrocebus patas, Papio

Anubis and Cercocebus torquatus, while nine (9)

families had the least occurrence of species

composition (1) - Crocodylidae, Gruidae, Psittacidae,

Phthonidae, Sciuridae, Struthionidae, Testudinae,

Thryonomyidae and Viverridae. There are fifteen

(15) wildlife species managed using Ex-situ

conservation strategies while three (3) species

undergo In-situ conservation strategy - Sciurus

vulgaris, Philantomba maxwelli and Python

sabae.Five (5) fauna species were stocked right from

the onset of the park - Cephalophus rufilatus,

Cercocebus torquatus, Cercopithecus mona,

Crocodylus niloticus and Balearica regulorum while

two (2) fauna species were stocked recently (2014) -

Geochelone sulcata and Civettictis civetta.

Conservation status of fourteen (14) fauna species

identified in the park are considered as least concern

while three (3) - Cercocebus torquatus, Psittacus

erithacus and Geochelone sulcata are vulnerable and

one (1) - Balearica regulorum is endangered. The

values of the fauna species’ indices of T.A. Afolayan

Wildlife Park computed were Shannon Werner

Diversity Index (2.289), Simpson Eveness (0.8704),

Simpson Dominance (0.1296) and Margalef Richness

(3.806) (Esan, 2015).



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Table 1: Woody species composition of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park

Family composition Species composition Common name

Frequency of

occurrence

Anacardaceae Magnifera indica Mango tree 2

Spondias mombin Yallow monbin

Apocynaceae Alstonia boonei Pattern wood 2

Leucaena leucocephala Lead tree

Bombaceae Bombax bunopozense Red silk cotton tree 2

Ceiba pentandra Silk cotton tree

Bignoniaceae Crescentia cujete Calabash tree 2

Newbouldia leavis Fertility tree

Caricaeae Carica papaya Pawpaw 1

Compositae Chromolaena odorata Siam weed 1

Combretaceae Terminalia superba White afara 1

Ebenaceae Diospyros mespliforimis Ebony tree 1

Euphorbiaceae Manihot esculenta Cassava 1

Fabaceae Gliricida sepium Quick stick 1

Leguminosae Afzelia africana Pod mahogany

6

Albizia ferrunginea False thorn albizia

Albizia zygia Okuro

Dialum guineense Black tamarind

Leucaena leucocephala Lead tree

Pterocarpus osun Blood wood

Loganiaceae Anthocleista djalonensis Cabbage tree 1

Malvaceae Hibiscus surattensis Hibiscus plant 1

Sida acuta Hornbean-leaf sida 1

Menispermaceae Cissampelos owariensis Lung Wort 1

Moraceae Antiaris africana False Iroko

3 Ficus capensis African mustard tree

Ficus exasperata Sand paper tree

Meliaceae Melicia excels Iroko tree 1

Musaceae Musa sapientum Banana 1

Myrtaceae Psidium guajava Guava 1

Poaceae Bambusa vulgaris Bamboo 1

Palmae Cocus nucifera Coconut palm 1

Sterculiaceae Cola acuminate Kolanut

4 Hildegardia barteri Hidegardia

Sterculia tragacantha Star chest nut

Theobroma cacao Cocoa

Sapotaceae Chrysophyllum albidum African star apple 1

Verbenaceae Gmelina arborea Gmelina 1

Zingiberaceae Costus afer Ginger lily 1



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No. of Species 39

No. of Families 24

Shannon Werner

diversity index 2.983

Simpson evenness index 0.9362

Simpson Dominance

0.06377

Margalef Richness 6.278

Source: Adekola, 2013 (Modified)

Bird composition

Table 3 presents the bird species composition of T.A.

Afolayan Wildlife Park. Twenty (20) species of birds

belonging to twelve (12) families were identified.

Two (2) families Columbidae and Ploceidae had the

highest species occurrence (3) while family

Cuculidae, Falconidae, Meropidae, Micropodidae,

Phasianidae, Ploceidae, Scopidae and Strigidae have

the least specie occurrence with one (1) specie each

(Odewumi et al., 2012). The conservation status of

all the bird species (20) identified in the park was

considered least concern.

Human-made ecotourism facilities of T.A.

Afolayan Wildlife Park

Table 4 presents the human-made ecotourism

facilities of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park. A total of

ten (10) ecotourism facilities were identified –

Security room (1), Tap (6), Water well (1), Water

tank (1), Picnic sites (6), Children playground (1),

Nature Trails (3), Museum (1), Pen (19) and transects

(8). The three (3) nature trails had a total length of

386.84 meters -Nature trail 1 (75.64 meters), Nature

trail 2 (246.61 meters) and Nature trail 3 (64.60)

meters. The eight (8) transects were evenly laid 50

meters apart through the park.

Ecotourism resource map of T.A. Afolayan

Wildlife Park

Figure 2 presents the spatial distribution of

ecotourism resources and nature trails in T.A.

Afolayan Wildlife Park. The resources in the park

are- Baboon pen, Children playground, Crocodile

pen, Crown crane pen, Duck and Geese pen, Picnic

site, Red flanked Duiker pen, Security post, Tortoise

pen, Well and the three nature trails. The study area

contained three (3) nature trails with total length of

386.84m. The Nature trail I (75.638m) begins from a

point beside the ostrich pen along the transect II and

ends at a point beside the antelope pen to join the

nature trail two: nature trail II (246.608m) begins also

at a point on the transect II beside the tortoise pen

and runs along the transect III to end on the transect

II beside the duck pen: nature trail III (64.597m)

begins also on the transect II beside the crown crane

pen and run across to join the nature trail II on the

transect III.

Figure 2: Ecotourism Resources Map of the T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park, Ondo



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Table 2: Fauna species composition of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park


Frequency of

occurrence

Year of

stocking

Management

strategy

Conservation

Status (IUCN)

Anatidae Anas platyrhynchos Duck 2

2010 Ex-situ

Least Concern

Branta canadensis Geese 2010 Least Concern

Bovidae Cephalophus rufilatus Red flanked duiker 2

2009 Ex-situ Least Concern

Philantomba maxwellii Maxwell Duiker

In-situ Least Concern

Cercopithecidae Cercocebus torquatus Red capped mangabey

5

2009

Ex-situ

Vulnerable

Cercopithecus mona Mona monkey 2009 Least Concern

Cercopithecus tantalus Tantalus monkey 2012 Least Concern

Erythrocebus patas Patas monkey 2013 Least Concern

Papio Anubis Baboon 2012 Least Concern

Crocodylidae Crocodylus niloticus Crocodile 1 2009 Ex-situ Least Concern

Gruidae Balearica regulorum Crown crane 1 2009 Ex-situ Endangered

Psittacidae Psittacus erithacus African grey parrot 1 2012 Ex-situ Vulnerable

Phthonidae Python sebae Rock Python 1 In-situ Least Concern

Sciuridae Sciurus vulgaris Squirrel 1 In-situ Least Concern

Struthionidae Struthio camelus Ostrich 1 2011 Ex-situ Least Concern

Testudinae Geochelone sulcata Tortoise 1 2014 Ex-situ Vulnerable

Thryonomyidae Thryonomys swinderianus Greater cane rat 1 Ex-situ Least Concern

Viverridae Civettictis civetta African civet cat 1 2014 Ex-situ Least Concern

No. of Species 18

No. of Families 12

Shannon Werner diversity

index 2.289

Simpson evenness index

0.8704

Simpson Dominance 0.1296


Source: Esan, 2015



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Table 3: Bird composition of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park


Frequency of

occurrence

Conservation status

(IUCN)

Alceidinidae Halcyon leucocephala Grey-headed kingfisher 2 Least Concern

Ispidina picta Pigmy kingfisher Least Concern

Ardeidae Ardea cinerea Black-headed heron 2 Least Concern

Bubulcus ibis Cattle egret Least Concern

Bucerotidae Tockus nasutus African Grey hornbill 2 Least Concern

Ocyceros semifasciatus Allied hornbill Least Concern

Columbidae Spilopelia senegalensis Laughing dove 3 Least Concern

Streptopelia semitorquata Red-eyed turtle dove Least Concern

Turtur abyssinicus Black-billed wood dove Least Concern

Cuculidae Chrysococcyx caprius Didric cuckoo 1 Least Concern

Falconidae Accipiter tachiro African Goshawk 2 Least Concern

Milvus migrans Black kite Least Concern

Meropidae Merops albicollis White-throated bee eater 1 Least Concern

Micropodidae Colletoptera affinis Little African swift 1 Least Concern

Phasianidae Francolinus bicalcaratus Bush fowl 1 Least Concern

Ploceidae Ploceus rubiginosus Chestnut-weaver 3 Least Concern

Lagonosticta senegala Red-billed fire finch Least Concern

Malimbus rubricollis Red-headed malimbe Least Concern

Scopidae Scopus umbretta Hammerkop 1 Least Concern

Strigidae Tyto alba African owl 1 Least Concern

No. of Species 20

No. of Families 12

Shannon Werner diversity index 2.389

Simpson evenness index 0.9

Simpson Dominance 0.1


Source: Odewumi et al., 2012 (Modified)



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Table 4: Human-made ecotourism facilities of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park

Features Quantity Description/Status

Ticket

Room/Security room 1

This is situated at the entrance of the park. This is where tickets are issued for

the visitors/tourist.

Tap 6

These are located at strategic areas of the park so as to serve as a means to

offer water for the animals in the pen.

Water well 1

This serves as the source of water in the park both for the animal and

management practices use.

Water tank 1

This is located behind the children playing ground. It serves as measure for

storing water and channel water to the taps.

Picnic site

6

They are situated all around the park to serve as a resting area for visitors and

also are made of bamboo being part of the utilization strategy of woody

plants.

Children playground 1

This is situated along the entrance of the park. It has different facilities that

can make children's visit to the park enjoyable.

Nature Trail 3

These are of four (4) feet wide, some concreted or covered with granites.

They form the road network in the park and leads to every feature in the park.

Pen 19 These are made of mesh wire, rectangular in shape, designed in accordance to

the behavioral pattern of the animal.

Transect 8 These are laid at 50 meters apart from the park boundary. They evenly

transverse the perimeter of the park.

Museum 1 This is located at the entrance of the park. It houses the effigies and antiquities

giving representation of the resources in the park.



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DISCUSSION

Woody species composition and diversity

This research created an attribute database of the

flora diversity in the T.A Afolayan Wildlife Park.

The study area is very strategic in an academic

setting as it holds a complex matrix of regenerating

secondary forest and serves as a buffer zone to the

Tectona grandis (teak) plantation. The number of

woody species and families reported in the study

were lesser than the one observed by Olaniyi and

Ogunjemite (2015) at the built-up/ recreational (21

families of 49 different woody tree species) and

undeveloped areas (25 families of 67 different woody

tree species) of Ikogosi Warmspring, Nigeria – an

ecotourism destination situated within the same

ecosystem and geographical region with the study

area. Also, there were slight differences to the woody

species and families compositions (21 families

belonging to 42 species) of the Federal University of

Technology, Akure (i.e. host institution of the study

area) recorded by Agbelade and Akindele (2013).

Despite being gazette as a protected area (Wildlife

Park) for research, training and conservation

purposes, the occurrence of human activities such as

farming in the past had resulted into its habitat

destruction. These activities were observed very close

to the park boundaries, especially in the southern

(farming), western (farming and roads) and eastern

(urbanization) ends. It had led to habitat

fragmentation around the park boundary due to loss

of habitats. This finding was in consonance to the

assertions of Ramirez- Marcial et al., (2001) who

opined that concerns over forest conservation

generally hinges on anthropogenic activities which

usually leads to depletion forest resources.

Although, this protective measure on the biodiversity

of the ecotourism destination have a great potential to

encourage succession of the woody vegetation

components, substantial changes are yet to be

observed in attaining its full ecological capability

when compared to ecotourism destinations in

Southwest Nigeria. The study of Menaut et al. (1995)

showed that forests in Africa can be characterized by

the increase of the species diversity. The most

common family recorded in the T.A. Afolayan

Wildlife Park is Leguminosae which have a large and

economic importance amidst all other flowering

plants. This negated the findings of Agbelade and

Akindele (2013) who recorded Sterculiaceae family

has the number of woody species in the Federal

University of Technology, Akure. The dominant

family is often found in tropical regions and formed

one of the actors of biological nitrogen fixation due

to their possession of nodules located at their root

cortex (Lewis, 2005). Their presence and abundance

in this area had contributed to the richness of the soil

and invariably brought about high food yield for

animals on free range within the park.

Fauna and avifauna diversity

T.A Afolayan Wildlife Park had been contributing to

the maintenance of diverse wildlife and natural

habitats while engaging the public to appreciate and

participate in conservation through ecotourism. Much

of the fauna observed were conserved using Ex-situ

management strategy i.e. zoological garden. Despite

the growing environmental consciousness that began

in the 1960s, the caging and maltreatment of captive

animals have been criticized especially by

environmentalists and animal welfare groups.

However, in the last two decades, zoological gardens

operating in the western countries such as United

Kingdom, United States of America, etc are now

operating as conservation or environmental centers

(Mallinson, 2001). This approach is being used as a

tool to conserve wildlife and their natural habitats in

the study area. Although, Almazan et al., (2005)

stated that numerous zoos in most parts of the world

like Nigeria are still operating under sub-standard

condition and animal care practices.

This Wildlife Park is embedded with facilities for

biological studies and at the same time used for

recreation while a small number of exotic mammals

and birds’ species are kept in small enclosure in

situations as similar to their natural habitat. This

makes it similar to Obafemi Awolowo University,

Ile-Ife zoological garden. Despite the abundance of

family diversities of fauna resources in T.A.

Afolayan Wildlife Park, there is still inadequate

species (species of the family Felidae, Camelidae and

Equidae) that could attract higher demand for tourist

visitation.

Status of Ecotourism facilities and their

undistributed networks

The housings of the animals are built to simulate their

natural habitat. Also, some of the animals are

displayed in an enclosure delineated with fences and

kept in cages (i.e. pens constructed with wires

gauges). The ecological structure of the park also

denotes that the vegetation covers were not tampered

with and so the ecosystem depicts the wild which

makes this very different from the University of

Ibadan zoological garden that has no vegetation

structures that could speak of the natural habitation of

these wild animals in enclosure.

Species of primates like the Red-capped Mangabee

(Cercocebus torquatus) and Mona Monkey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowering_plant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowering_plant



30

(Cercopithecus mona) are kept in captivity which

serves as check for same species which are in free

range at the Omo Biosphere Reserve. With

documented reports of bird species (Odewumi et al.,

2012) of which some species are migratory while

others are residents. T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park

holds a population of the globally endangered

African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Although,

this animal is in captivity, its stocking is a great effort

towards conservation with many other bird species.

Though, consistent monitoring of the status of birds

within this area is necessary for effective

conservation plans.

The forms of undistributed networks within the exsitu

and insitu conservation enclaves of the park are the

nature trails and transects. The nature trails had an

ordered spatio-distribution which allowed for easy

accessibility for the insitu conservation area for game

viewing. However, transects played an integral role

in research and educational purposes. The

information generated from mapping these features

can play significant role for effective marketing and

patronage of ecotourism destinations.

CONCLUSION

This study has identified various ecotourism

resources, flora and fauna compositions, including

human-made resources in T.A. Afolayan Wildlife

Park. Thirty nine (39) woody species, eighteen (18)

fauna species composition managed under Ex and In-

situ strategy though almost all were considered Least

concern according to IUCN conservation status,

twenty (20) bird species compositions and the

human-made (supporting attractions) ecotourism

resources among which were nature trails, museum,

Picnic site etc. were all identified during the period of

this research work. Most of the picnic sites should be

situated far away from the pens so that impacts of

visitors on the animals in the pen will be put into

check. Moreso, there is need for stocking more

flagships and endangered fauna species to the park in

order to be enlisted amongst other ecotourism

destinations in Nigeria that will integrate her tourism

products into national and local planning,

development processes, poverty reduction strategies

and accounts by 2020 and also, increase the inflow of

the visitors into the park.

REFERENCES

Abu M.I. (2010). Ethnobotanical study of Federal

University of Technology, Akure (FUTA)

Wildlife Park. A bachelor degree thesis in the

department of Ecotourism and Wildlife

Management, pp. 31-35.

Adekola, O.E. (2013). Assessment of Ecotourism

resources of Prof. T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park,

Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. A bachelor degree

thesis in the department of Ecotourism and

Wildlife Management, pp. 41-49

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