Population, deforestation and biodiversity erosion in the context of rural agricultural expansion in South Eastern Nigeria

This study attempts to model the relationship between macro demographic factors at the aggregate village level data and the various indices of deforestation arising from rural agricultural expansion. In a multiple regression analysis of five (5) macro demographic (Causative) variables modelled against eleven (11) indices of deforestation (explanatory variables); the demographic factors critical to explaining variations in the various indices of deforestation were delineated. The population size of settlements, farm space density, and the size of households were identified to influence to various degrees, variations in deforestation indictors. The magnitudes of these effects were however, low, evident by low elasticities between population and deforestation variables. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 2(2) 2004: 91-10