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Ethnobotany of Ecological-Based Tourist Centres in the Western Zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria

Received: 29 July 2017    Accepted: 22 August 2017    Published: 4 October 2017
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Abstract

The rapid appraisal method was used to assess the potentials of ecological-based tourism in three tourist centres situated in the western zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Visits were made to the centres. In each centre, the tree species, in the vegetation, situated within 50m radius of the main attractive feature of the centre were identified. The ethnobotanical values of the species were defined by 20 randomly selected aboriginal respondents that were interviewed with the aid of semi-structured questionnaire matrix. Also, in each centre, 10 tourists were randomly selected and interviewed on the values of the flora species in the centre. While the aboriginal respondents were versed on the identification and ethnobotanical values of the flora species, the tourist respondents were grossly deficient on these. Thus the results obtained revealed that the centres could serve as avenues to educate tourists on the biodiversity, ecology and ethnobotany of flora species in the immediate vicinities of the centres. Also, restoration of Nature’s Study as a subject in primary schools will also improve the consciousness and awareness of the populace on the conservation of the nation’s renewable natural resources.

Published in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12
Page(s) 78-86
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ethnobotany, Ecological-Based, Tourism, Flora, Nigeria

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Joshua Kayode, Olatunji Akinyele, Modupe Janet Ayeni. (2017). Ethnobotany of Ecological-Based Tourist Centres in the Western Zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2(5), 78-86. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12

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    ACS Style

    Joshua Kayode; Olatunji Akinyele; Modupe Janet Ayeni. Ethnobotany of Ecological-Based Tourist Centres in the Western Zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Ecol. Evol. Biol. 2017, 2(5), 78-86. doi: 10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12

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    AMA Style

    Joshua Kayode, Olatunji Akinyele, Modupe Janet Ayeni. Ethnobotany of Ecological-Based Tourist Centres in the Western Zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Ecol Evol Biol. 2017;2(5):78-86. doi: 10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12,
      author = {Joshua Kayode and Olatunji Akinyele and Modupe Janet Ayeni},
      title = {Ethnobotany of Ecological-Based Tourist Centres in the Western Zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria},
      journal = {Ecology and Evolutionary Biology},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {78-86},
      doi = {10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20170205.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.eeb.20170205.12},
      abstract = {The rapid appraisal method was used to assess the potentials of ecological-based tourism in three tourist centres situated in the western zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Visits were made to the centres. In each centre, the tree species, in the vegetation, situated within 50m radius of the main attractive feature of the centre were identified. The ethnobotanical values of the species were defined by 20 randomly selected aboriginal respondents that were interviewed with the aid of semi-structured questionnaire matrix. Also, in each centre, 10 tourists were randomly selected and interviewed on the values of the flora species in the centre. While the aboriginal respondents were versed on the identification and ethnobotanical values of the flora species, the tourist respondents were grossly deficient on these. Thus the results obtained revealed that the centres could serve as avenues to educate tourists on the biodiversity, ecology and ethnobotany of flora species in the immediate vicinities of the centres. Also, restoration of Nature’s Study as a subject in primary schools will also improve the consciousness and awareness of the populace on the conservation of the nation’s renewable natural resources.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AU  - Joshua Kayode
    AU  - Olatunji Akinyele
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    AB  - The rapid appraisal method was used to assess the potentials of ecological-based tourism in three tourist centres situated in the western zone of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Visits were made to the centres. In each centre, the tree species, in the vegetation, situated within 50m radius of the main attractive feature of the centre were identified. The ethnobotanical values of the species were defined by 20 randomly selected aboriginal respondents that were interviewed with the aid of semi-structured questionnaire matrix. Also, in each centre, 10 tourists were randomly selected and interviewed on the values of the flora species in the centre. While the aboriginal respondents were versed on the identification and ethnobotanical values of the flora species, the tourist respondents were grossly deficient on these. Thus the results obtained revealed that the centres could serve as avenues to educate tourists on the biodiversity, ecology and ethnobotany of flora species in the immediate vicinities of the centres. Also, restoration of Nature’s Study as a subject in primary schools will also improve the consciousness and awareness of the populace on the conservation of the nation’s renewable natural resources.
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Author Information
  • Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

  • Office of the Majority Leader, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

  • Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

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