Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, H: Environment & Earth Science, Volume 23 Issue 1

the forestry industry, and a general shortage of resources for forest management at all tiers (federal, state, and local government). It is significant to point out that Nigeria is the Federal Republic with a high level of self-reliance at the state tier. While the Federal Ministry of Environment sets national policies, it has little enforcement power. Enforcement of forest management relies on each nation’s 36 states, each of which has its forestry laws guided by those at the federal level. In several states, the management power of the state forestry departments and indigenous organizations is poor, with low funding, low staff morale, inadequate technical training, illiteracy from citizens and decision-makers, shortage of logical forest policies (lacking in most of the nation’s development plans), distortion due to oil economy and usually high rates of government corruption. In Osun State, agricultural expansion and commercial tree felling remarkably rank on the list of deforestation contributors, while urbanization and domestic energy use come next. As with other states, poor conservation and poor implementation of forest laws, policies, and regulations intensify these deforestation contributors. Previous research done by Ogunrinola et al. (2020) highlighted that the major contributors to deforestation and habitat fragmentation in Nigeria were owing to land clearing for arable land, plantation establishment, unrestrained exploitation, population settlements, excessive grazing, charcoal business, poaching, construction, and poor funding of the forestry subsector. To Morales-Barqueroet al. (2015), the intensity of forest degradation is linked to landowners’ decisions managing their shifting farming practices. There is a growing concern in determining ecosystem qualities like forest structure, floristic composition, and species richness in primary forests (Ogunrinola et al., 2020). This arises from the government's concernin reinstating the nation's severely degraded primary forest ecological community. A situation that has guaranteed theadoption and execution of sustainable forest management practices like REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) in some parts of the country. Knowing the multitudes of factors fostering deforestation and forest loss in the forestland reserves will assist in applying REDD+ policies that will control this social milieu and encourage forest ecosystem sustainability (Oladipo et al., 2001). Increasing food production is the number one major contributor to deforestation emissions universally and especially in Nigeria, where the level of deforestation is put at 3.5% per annum as revealed by the Environmental Management Programme Survey (Federal Ministry of Environment, 1999). The evaluation of vegetation and land management variation between 1978/78 and 1993/95 authorized by the Federal Department of Forestry reported that there was substantial expansion in the expanses of agriculture as all kinds of agriculture recognized developed by a total of 84,073km2 within the 18 years (FORMECU,1999). Likewise, grazing land seems to be increasing irrepressibly. Its area enlarged from 18.3 percent in 1976/78 to 20.06 percent in 1993/95 (FORMECU,1999). A speedily rising population employing a finite resource lacking changes in land use designs or technological developmentsincreases the pressure on land with related destruction hence this study. The paramount significance of the paper was to add initial information on the subject of study. Therefore, it was bound that this study would add to the available literature on the subject. Results from this study will be useful in the following aspects: (i) identify and analyze tree species diversity and richness under different physiognomy, (ii) identify and analyze tree biodiversity abundance under different physiognomy, and (iii) study seasonal differences in tree biodiversity abundance under each physiognomy. Similar literature on the above topic have been studied(Adedeji and Adeofun, 2014; Awotoye et al., 2013). The subsequent gaps (which this current work attempts to fulfill) were discovered. There are documented studies on deforestation and forest depletion, most of which occur in Nigeria, but there are just a couple that emphasize on evaluation of deforestation and forest loss in Shasha Forest Reserve (Adedeji and Adeofun, 2014; Awotoye et al., 2013). This manuscript attempts to highlights the status of tree species diversity degradation in Shasha Forest Reserve with a focus on the state of deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Furthermore, the gaps in the attribute of the site of the study need to be checked. A diversity of the literature studied was conducted in the Southwestern region, and none, focused on the deforestation and forest loss quality condition of Shasha Forest Reserve. This study was a comprehensive study on the tree species diversity and richness under the different physiognomy ofthe forest reserve ecosystem. This work aims at expanding insight into the interaction between deforestation and degradation, in a bid to identify the factors responsible for tree species diversity degradation in the study region.The aim of this research is also to apply geospatial techniques together with field evaluation of tree diversity state to identify the factors and status of tree species diversity degradation in Shasha Forest Reserve, Southwestern Nigeria. II. M aterials and M ethods a) Site Depiction and Experimental Design This study was conducted in Shasha Forest Reserve in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria. The study Tree Species Diversity Status and Contributors to Forest Degradation in Shasha Forest Reserve, Nigeria © 2023 Global Journals 1 Year 2023 36 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXIII Issue ersion I VI ( H )