APPLICATION OF CONSERVATION PRINCIPLES IN DEVELOPING TOURISM POTENTIALS OF EBONYI STATE

Abstract

This study evaluated the application of principle of use and conservation of natural resources in developing tourism potentials of Ebonyi State. Field survey was used for the study while the study area was Ebonyi South and North senatorial districts covering ten local government areas. The population for the study comprised the residents and staff of Ebonyi State Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Three hundred and ten ((310) was the population for the Staff of Ebonyi State Ministry of Culture and Tourism while the population for the residents was unknown.  Stratified sampling technique was adopted for the study. A Sample size of 560 respondents, made up of 385 residents of the state and I75 of staff of Ebonyi State Ministry of Culture and Tourism as obtained using Taro Yamane formula and Cochran formula. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. A mixed of qualitative and quantitative data collection method was applied for the study. The instruments for data collection were subjected to both face validation and internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha used for test of reliability of the questionnaire. Research question was analysed using means and standard deviation and the hypothesis formulated for the study was tested using Pearson Correlation to determine the relationship between the two variables. Based on the results of the analysis, findings revealed that tourism key players in Ebonyi State have not applied the  principle of use and conservation in developing the tourism potentials of Ebonyi state so as to ensure that tourism resources are distributed to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that principle of use and conservation of natural resources was not fully applied in the development of tourism potentials of the study area. Therefore, the researchers recommended that tourism key players should make effort to apply use and conservation principle as a sustainable development principle for tourism development in order to strike a balance between the environment and tourism.