EFFECTS OF RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF HOUSEHOLD WELL-BEING ON FORESTRY LAND USE STRATEGIES FOR FLOOD MANAGEMENT IN VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES OF SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

In the context of environmental sustainability, human participation and social inclusion are of paramount importance in controlling devastating floods in Nigeria. This study investigated the effects of residents’ perception of households’ well-being on forestry land use strategies for flood management in vulnerable communities of Southwestern Nigeria. Primary data collected with a structured questionnaire in a multistage sampling procedure comprising 4-stage random sampling were analysed using frequencies, percentages, and mean scores / ranking and tested with canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The findings show that most respondents were female (68.4%), had tertiary education (62.4%), were natives of the locality (72.8%), had households of 5–8 members (62.8%), and were primarily employed in the civil service (40.0%) or as traders (21.6%). Respondents’ perception that their housing was dilapidated was high, with a mean score (M) of 4.2, as was their perception that meals were unaffordable (M = 5.0), that hospitals were affordable (M=5.0), and that social participation provides welfare support (M=5.0). The CCA revealed a significant relationship between household well-being and tree conservation in uplands, TCU (β = −0.414, p = 0.00), food index and tree planting, TP (β = −0.876, p = 0.00), health index and tree planting, TP (β = 1.697, p = 0.00), and social participation and sustenance of the natural environment, SNE (β = −0.432, p = 0.00) at α0.05. Hence, it was observed that respondents’ perception of household well-being could enhance their motivation to adopt forestry land use strategies (FLUS) for flood management at low ebb as a result of weak R-squared values of 13.4%, 26.4%, 26.1%, and 40.3% respectively. Stakeholders should create eco-friendly practices and focus groups to support the effective utilization of FLUS for sustainable flood management.