PERCEIVED CONSERVATION APPROACHES AND CONSERVATION CHALLENGES OF OSUN-OSOGBO SACRED GROVE, OSOGBO, NIGERIA

The capacity to see, hear or get mindful of something through the faculties offers significance to an individual's current circumstance and figures out the world. The study contributes to providing insights into the perceived conservation approaches and conservation challenges of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting the 147 respondents. Primary data were obtained on respondents' characteristics and their perception of the conservation approaches and conservation challenges of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Nigeria through the use of a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used for data analysis. The results showed that a majority of the respondents were male (66.7%), married (59.18%), educated (60.54%), migrants (55.10%), engaged in agricultural-related jobs (28.57%) and are between the ages of 36 years and 45 years (45.58%), while the mean age of the respondents was 43.62 years old. The respondents positively perceived the conservation approaches of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Nigeria (x̅ = 4.06) as very good measures in the conservation of the grove. They also perceived the conservation challenges of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Nigeria (x̅ = 4.12) as major constraints in the conservation of the grove. Linear Regression analysis showed that respondents perceived conservation approaches (β1 = -0.547) significantly influenced their perceived conservation challenges of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that the perceived identified conservation approaches should be strengthened as this will translate to the mitigation and the action of reducing the severity and/or seriousness of the conservation challenges of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Osogbo, Nigeria.