Assessment of Ecotourism Resources in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park, FUTA

ABSTRACT

Ecotourism resources are natural and cultural features that attract visitors, such a s landscapes,endemic and rare flora and fauna, cultural festivals and historic monuments. Endowment of any site with natural attractive features is one of the important indicators of a successful development of ecotourism, as simulation of ecotourism resources can significantly affect patronage by making experience unnatural. In the face of degradations of natural resources and lack of alternative options, there are ecotourism resources in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park. The major objective of this study is interpreting, assessing and estimating these ecotourism resources for sustainable use of natural resources which will improve conservation and management strategy of the park; thus, presenting the resources in the park as self-interpretative.This research was conducted using Reconnaissance survey, Field survey, Secondary data and Oral interview with the park staff. Related problems of natural resource management were also noted with possible solutions.The results obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in the form of tables and bar chart. The study revealed that Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park is endowed with limited but unique ecotourism resources such as, flora and fauna, avifauna and ecotourism facilities and services such as, picnic site, museum, website, quarantine house, children playing ground.The result revealed that a lot need to be done in the wildlife park to bring ecotourism up to the level of a viable revenue yielding industry. Besides, if the limited ecotourism resources are properly and fully harnessed, it would increase touristsꞌ influx in the area.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES Title page Certification Dedication Acknowledgement Table of contents List of tables List of figures List of plates Abstract
CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 General background to the study 1.2 Justification 1.3 Objectives of the study
CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 World Tourism Development 2.1.1 World Tourism Statistic and Ranking of the most visited countries 2.1.2 International Tourist Receipts 2.2 Tourism in Africa 2.2.1 Tourism in Nigeria 2.2.2 Tourism in Ondo State 2.3 Ecotourism 2.3.1 Emergences and development of Ecotourism 2.3.2 Ecotourism and protected areas 2.3.3 Impacts of ecotourism 2.3.3.1 Negative impacts of ecotourism 2.3.3.2 Positive impacts of ecotourism 2.4 Relationship of tourism with environment
CHAPTER THREE 3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.1 Study area 3.1.1 Geographical background 3.1.2 Climatic conditions 3.1.3 Flora and Fauna 3.2 Methodology 3.2.2 Data collection 3.2.3 Data analysis
CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 RESULTS 4.1 Ecotourism resources in the park 4.1.1 Fauna species identified in the park 4.1.2 Flora species identified in the park 4.1.3 Ecotourism features present in the park museum 4.1.4 Tourist facilities
CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 Discussion and conclusion 5.1 Discussion 5.1.1 Avifauna 5.1.2 Flora 5.1.3 Animal trophies 5.1.4 Museum 5.1.5 Tourist facilities 5.1.6 Park interpretation 5.1.6.1 Information, Environmental education and Interpretation 5.2 Conclusion 5.3 Recommendations References
LIST OF TABLES PAGES Table 1: List of most visited countries in the world Table 2: List of top tourism earners in the world Table 3: International Tourist Arrival (1950-2020) in million Table 4: List of identified faunal species in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Table 5: Bird species composition of Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Table 6: Woody plant composition of Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Table 7: Checklist of animal effigy in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Museum Table 8: Checklist of animal trophies in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Museum LIST OF FIGURES PAGES Figure 1: Location of Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park in Ondo State, Nigeria Figure 2: Relative abundance of fauna species in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Figure 3: Relative abundance of bird species in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Figure 4: Relative abundance of plant species families in Prof, Afolayan Wildlife Park Figure 5: Relative abundance of animal trophies in the park museum LIST OF PLATES PAGES Plate 1: Crocodiles basking in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Plate 2: Ostrich in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Plate 3: A male baboon eating in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Plate 4: Grey hornbill Plate 5: Variable sunbird Plate 6: Ficus capensis in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Plate 7: Bambusa vulgaris in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Plate 8: Effigy of elephant skull in the park museum Plate 9: Effigy of antelopes‟ horns and skulls in the park museum Plate 10: Effigy of taxidermized animals in the park museum Plate 11: Effigy of animals‟ skins in the park museum Plate 12: Effigy of cultural artifacts in the park museum Plate 13: An overview of the park showing the children playing ground Plate 14: Picnic site in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park Plate 15: Swing used by visited children in Prof. Afolayan Wildlife Park