The Okomu Forest Reserve is a forest block covering an area of 1081 km in
Edo State
Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...
, about 50 km west of
Benin City
Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...
, Nigeria. The
Okomu National Park
The Okomu National Park, formerly the Okomu Wildlife Sanctuary, is a forest block within the Okomu Forest Reserve in the Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State in Nigeria.
The park is about north west of Benin City.
The park hol ...
lies within the reserve. The park holds a small part of the forests that once covered the region, and it's the last habitat for many endangered species.
History
The Okomu Forest Reserve was originally established by the British colonial government in 1912.
In 1935, additional 411 sq km were added to the north and east, bringing the total area to 777 sq km. The reserve was intended to be managed as a source of lumber from the start, and its abundant mahogany stands have been exploited. The reserve has been actively engaged in systematic rotational logging and "taungya" farming since the 1940s. A section of forest is assigned to local farmers to be cut and farmed, then reforested with valuable tree species in this forest management scheme.
By 1984, huge swaths of the Okomu Forest Reserve had been converted to oil palm and rubber plantations, some officially, others illegally or with no oversight.
Ecotourism
Geography
References
Forest Reserves of Nigeria
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