Mangrove Forest Ecosystem Utilization And Depletion: Implication For Occupational Changes In Calabar South, Nigeria

The aim of this study was to examine the various ways in which mangrove forest ecosystem is being utilized and depleted and the implications for occupational changes in the area. Five communities based on observation that are actively involved in the mangrove exploitation were sampled for the study. Using the Yaro Yamen (1980) formula, the sample size of 400 was determined. Based on this, 400 copies of questionnaires whose content bothers on utilization of mangrove, income generated and occupation of the sampled communities was developed and administered. In order to determine the mangrove ecosystem depletion rate, the change intensity index was used. A multi-temporal image data of the mangrove vegetation covering areas overtime was acquired and processed. This include a Topo sheet derived from an aerial photo of 1970, land imagery 1970-2011 in a GIS environment (Arc GIS 9.3).