Assessment of Community Participation in the Management of Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, Taraba State

Community participation in forest reserve management has been promoted as a governance reform capable of improving both conservation outcomes and local livelihood security, yet the quality, depth, and equity of participation in practice varies enormously across Nigerian reserves. Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve in Taraba State is a biodiversity-rich montane forest managed under a hybrid university-community partnership arrangement, providing a distinctive case for evaluating participatory forest management in practice. This study assesses the quality and equity of community participation in the management of Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, focusing on decision-making inclusion, benefit distribution, and compliance behaviour. A mixed methods design combined structured surveys administered to 120 households across four adjacent communities with focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and review of management committee records. A participatory governance quality index was constructed from validated indicators of consultation depth, representation, information access, and grievance redress. Results show high overall awareness of the reserve management agreement and moderate participation in decision-making, but significant gender imbalances, with women representing fewer than 15% of management committee members despite reporting high dependence on forest resources. Benefit distribution from ecotourism revenue was perceived as inequitable by 58% of respondents, concentrated among households with committee membership. Compliance with agreed forest access rules was strongly predicted by perceived procedural fairness scores, independent of enforcement frequency. Recommendations focus on mandatory gender quotas for committee representation and transparent revenue distribution protocols. Keywords: community participation, forest reserve management, Ngel Nyaki, Taraba State, governance equity