Evaluation and users' view of amenity trees in the premises of selected public hospitals in Ibadan metropolis

Abstract

The study enumerated and assessed tree species found in selected hospitals’ premises in Ibadan for amenity planting. The study also examined the premises users’ awareness of the benefits and probable threats posed by the trees as well as the premises users’ willingness to support conservation of trees in the hospital premises. Five public hospitals were purposively selected for the study. Trees in the selected premises were enumerated and their suitability as amenity trees was evaluated by identifying the desirable and undesirable attributes of the species. Data on availability of requisite institutional structures for sustainable management of the amenity trees were collected by administration of questionnaire on the officials of the units/ departments (works or maintenance) in the hospitals that are responsible for the management of the physical environment of the hospitals. Information on users’ views of the trees was collected through administration of questionnaire on 40 randomly selected staff members in each of the selected hospitals. Thus a total of 200 questionnaires were administered in the five hospitals. Data collected were analyzed with descriptive statistics. A total of 354 trees comprising 12 species were enumerated in the hospitals’ premises. The identified species are Delonix regia, Mangifera indica, Plumeria rubra, Polyalthia longifolia, Roystonea regia, Terminalia catappa, Pinus caribea, Elaeis guineensis, Tectona grandis, Dacryodes edulis, Gliricidia sepium, and Samanea saman. Most of the identified species have more desirable traits for amenity planting than undesirable traits. Cooling the environment (25.67%), provision of shade (25.67%) and beautification (24.78%) of environment top the list of services derivable from the trees in the hospitals’ premises. Furthermore, 76% of the respondents opined that trees do not constitute hazards, 58.5% observed that leaves and fruits of trees litter the premises regularly, 66.7% claimed that trees occasionally fall on the roads as a result of windstorms while 58% was willing to support planting and management of the trees in the hospital premises. Since trees provide salient benefits to the users of hospital premises, hospital management should consider treescape as a basic and important infrastructure that should be incorporated into the physical planning of the hospitals. Forestry professionals however have to help hospitals’ management boards to create a functional and conducive treescape necessary for the uplift of wellbeing of hospital premises users.