CONSERVATIONS NIGERIA

Tag: Wildlife Conservation Society

  • ANI’s Gashaka and Okomu Projects- An innovative approach to conservation in West Africa

    ANI’s Gashaka and Okomu Projects- An innovative approach to conservation in West Africa

    Africa Nature Investors (ANI) shared an innovative approach to conservation in West Africa during the 2022 Annual Guest Lecture held by the Department of Wildlife and Ecotourism Management at the University of Ibadan which took place on the 12th of December 2022.

    Africa Nature Investors (ANI) is a Nigerian non-governmental organization founded five years ago by a group of Nigerians with a laudable passion for the protection of Africa’s natural resources. These resources as we know are intrinsic to the survival and sustenance of biodiversity as well as the existence and development of humanity.

    However, incessant exploitation of these resources poses an imminent danger to the existence of various life forms. Therefore, the steady destruction of our forests and savannah have to be halted without delay.

    Tunde Morakinyo, a Tropical Forest Conservation Specialist and one of the four founding trustees of ANI was the guest speaker at the lecture. He began his lecture by highlighting the potential dangers of over-exploiting the wild species “if you cut down all trees, agriculture suffers so we suffer, so many of our medicines come from the forest if we cut down all the forest there is no medicine. So these wild species are critical to our environment yet they are being destroyed for all sorts of reasons”

    “And we believe that we have to change this, we can not just stand back and watch the destruction happening because all of us will suffer as humanity. So we came together as Nigerians to protect these wild species in partnership with the local communities” he noted.

    Morakinyo further emphasized the fact that we do not need intervention from the outside world before we protect our forests and animals.

    Nigeria is endowed with about seven different national parks plus the Yankari game reserve. However, the focus of ANI is on two major projects in Nigeria which are the Gashaka Gunti National Park project and the Okomu National Park project.

    The NGO set its sights on these two parks not only to rewild and conserve nature but also to transform these parks into paradisic tourist destinations and research centers.

    The Gashaka Gunti National Park is the largest national park in Nigeria, which is situated on the border between Nigeria and Cameron. It extends across a landscape of about 7,000 kilometers. It is bejeweled with trees that stretch high into the sky, mountain grasslands, rainforests, and incredible views, and it houses the Chapawadi, which is the tallest mountain in Nigeria.

    The Gashaka National Park has four different ecosystem types which include: Dry Wooden Savannah, Low Land Rainforest, Cloud Forest, and Mountain Grasslands. Sitting on three biodiversity zones in Nigeria, it is the most ecologically diverse park in all of Africa.

    “The most important water catchments for the river Benue supporting the livelihoods of millions of people comes from the park, therefore, it is strategic for Nigeria to protect the place” Morakinyo explained

    The Okomu National Park, on the other hand, is the smallest national park in Nigeria and one of the last surviving forests in the country. It harbors Nigeria’s most critically endangered species of elephants – the Savannah Elephant and the Forest Elephant, both declining in number.

    A management team for the projects which comprises representatives from ANI, the government, and the communities is set to oversee the work which will begin from outside the parks. This is imperative as illegal billion-dollar industrial-scale logging for rosewood trees and timber are ongoing which needs to be curbed before it permeates the parks themselves.

    Going further in the lecture, Morakinyo outlined the five key principles which ANI has adopted to achieve its goals, they are:

    • To restore a fully functioning park with an intact ecology by eliminating banditry, cattle grazing, and logging. Therefore, park rangers need to be fully equipped with weapons and other necessary gadgets for the protection of the park.
    • Co-management with the government as the government can not be solely responsible for the preservation of these parks, all the affected stakeholders need to get involved.
    • The parks must be an engine for investment, development, and employment to stop exploitation such as logging
    • It has to be financially self-sustaining by keeping the parks safe enough to be attractive to tourists and researchers alike, selling carbon credits from trees planted thereby generating revenue.
    • Change the hearts and minds of Nigerians towards nature. Help them see it in a different light and be drawn to it.

    He in conclusion called for the support of both the management team and private individuals to help in the various ways they can to see to the actualization of this lofty vision of ANI.

  • WCS celebrates four years of zero elephant poaching in Yankari

    WCS celebrates four years of zero elephant poaching in Yankari

    Yankari Game Reserve, home to Nigeria’s largest remaining elephant population, has experienced zero poaching in the last four years, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has reported.

    The announcement was made just days before officials gather for the meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The success underscores the importance of tightening up the closure of importing countries’ domestic ivory markets, along with vigilant anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts.

    WCS, which helps manage the protected area, attributes the success to well-managed, well-equipped and highly trained rangers who patrol the 866 square miles (2,244 square kilometers) reserve, which also supports important populations of lion, buffalo, hippo, roan and hartebeest.

    READ ALSO: World Rangers Day 2019 in Omo

    Yankari’s elephant population remains stable at 100-150 individuals, and is expected to grow in the coming years if conservationists remain steadfast in keeping poachers out of the reserve. As recently as 2006 there were as many as 350 elephants in Yankari, but a period of heavy poaching from 2006 to 2014 reduced their numbers dramatically. Since 2014 Yankari has been managed through a co-management agreement between Bauchi State Government and WCS.

    Yankari’s elephant population remains stable at 100-150 individuals
    photo: WCS Nigeria

    Elephants are critically endangered in Nigeria, with the Yankari elephants being the only savanna elephants remaining in the country. Some forest elephants also still remain in low numbers in the forested south including Cross River National Park area (where WCS is also working to secure forest elephants and the Cross River Gorilla). Historically the Yankari savanna elephants may have been ecologically connected with the Sambisa area (impacted by Boko Haram) and perhaps also Gashaka Gumti National Park and neighboring areas of Cameroon. This is a core critical area for elephant conservation in the Sudano-Sahel Region.

    READ ALSO: Ogun elephant video: No one was injured, says expert

    Originally created as a game reserve in 1956, Yankari was upgraded to a national park in 1991. It was managed by the National Parks Service until 2006 when responsibility for the management of the reserve was handed back to Bauchi State Government. Since then tourism infrastructure has been dramatically improved. Yankari is now one of the most popular tourism destinations in Nigeria.

    “Rangers are the key to stopping poaching in protected areas” said Andrew Dunn,WCS Nigeria Program Director “Yankari is an amazing success story and shows the world that with targeted use of limited funds, and government commitment, progress can still be made provided that rangers are properly trained and supervised.”

    Rangers are the key to stopping poaching in protected areas
    photo: Natalie Ingel/WCS Nigeria
     

    Dunn attributes the success in the reserve to several factors. The leadership of Nachamada Geoffrey, Director of the Yankari Landscape for WCS, directs efforts to ensure a zero tolerance policy for corruption coupled with making sure all rangers are well-equipped in the field and trained with regular refresher courses. SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Supporting Tool) together with real time radio communications is used help guide and monitor the rangers and optimize their impact.WCS supplements rangers’ incomes with additional monies per night as an incentive whenever they are on a long-distance foot patrol.

    Nachamada Geoffrey stated, “Solid logistical support (food rations), equipment, and motivation through regular salary payments support our ranger operations day in and day out. Most of the rangers are recruited from the local community and are highly motivated to protect the wildlife of Yankari.”

    David Adejo Andrew of Nigeria’s Federal Department of Forestry and Federal Ministry of Environment also commended WCS’s efforts.

    “The efforts of the WCS in conserving the largest pool of elephant populations at the Yankari Game Reserve has given Nigeria a good platform for conserving other Elephant population in the country. This has encouraged the Nigerian Government to work with the WCS to translate this success stories to other areas,” he said.

    The future outlook

    Of course in the long-term Yankari will only survive if it has the support of the surrounding communities. Yankari is one of the main sources of employment locally, including both rangers, hotel staff and elephant guardians. WCS is also working with local schools to help develop future conservation leaders. In addition, WCS has helped establish an informant network among the communities surrounding the reserve that provides critical information on poachers.

    Building on this foundation and work ethic, significantly more resources are urgently needed to fully establish the Reserves full management systems and effectiveness.

    WCS’s conservation efforts within Yankari are supported by the Bauchi State Government, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Embassy of France in Nigeria, Australian High Commission in Nigeria, Tusk Trust, the North Carolina Zoological Society, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, CITES-MIKE, the UNEP African Elephant Fund, the A.P. Leventis Conservation Foundation, the Lion Recovery Fund—an initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Network in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, and the Elephant Crisis Fund—a joint initiative between Save The Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network, in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.