Key Factors Influencing Low Interest in Forestry

Education provides the fundamental knowledge, intellectual and professional skills, competencies, and values needed to achieve sustainable forest management. But interest and enrollment in forestry education and careers is low in Nigeria and across the globe, which threatens growth of the profession and, by extension, forest ecosystems.

In a case study published recently in Natural Sciences Education, Nigerian researchers assessed the perceptions of and interest in forestry education and careers by surveying 160 students across eight private secondary schools. Most of the students self-reported having some knowledge of forestry, mainly obtained through school and especially in lessons on agriculture. But most students exhibited a low interest in pursuing education or a career in the field, primarily due to insufficient forestry scholarships and professional jobs in the country.

By implication, providing adequate employment and scholarship opportunities to forestry graduates and students, respectively, could significantly improve public interest in and attitude towards forestry and natural resources education and disciplines.