Headlines

ANI Foundation: Changing the Narrative on Wildlife Conservation and Eco-tourism in Nigeria Despite Notable Challenges

Published Feb. 05, 2025

By The Newspointer

Conservation experts in Nigeria and globally have been quick to highlight Nigeria’s rich natural heritage and diverse wildlife, making it an attractive destination for conservation and ecotourism.

The 2022 Annual Report of the Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation, one of the key organisations assiduously advancing conservation efforts in Nigeria, testifies to the country’s rich biodiversity. Nigeria is largely uncharted territory for most large environmental organisations. It is one of the 10 most biodiverse countries in Africa. Although not widely recognized, Nigeria has exceptional levels of amphibians, primates, and flora diversity, particularly within the rainforest belt along its coast and the mountain range bordering Nigeria and Cameroon.”

Despite this position, the country has little to show in terms of revenue generation, tourism data, positive investment sentiment, and, perhaps most importantly, its contribution to the national GDP. At a time when countries like Kenya, Republic of Benin, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, and even Ghana are intensifying efforts to promote tourism, Nigeria, rich in exotic locations, vibrant festivals, and diverse flora and fauna with immense untapped tourism potential, continues to face significant challenges in developing and sustaining its conservation sector.

Top on the list of issues facing Nigerias tourism/conservation sector is insecurity. In a July 2023 interview published on Mongabay, an American conservation news web portal, Andrew Dunn, the Nigeria Country Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), highlighted insecurity as one of the biggest conservation issues in Nigeria.

The biggest conservation issue in Nigeria today is insecurity. Three valuable national parks; Kainji Lake National Park, Kamuku National Park, and Chad Basin National Park, have been taken over by bandits and insurgents. Under such conditions, rangers are unable to conduct patrols, turning the parks into no-go zones, which poses serious threats to both conservation efforts and regional security,”he stated.

In addition to insecurity, poaching and wildlife trafficking have become widespread issues in the country, with Nigeria emerging as a major transit hub for wildlife trafficking. The ANI Foundation 2022 Report which noted that Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is the fourth biggest illegal trade in the world worth over an estimated £15 billion annually, further highlights the negative impact of illegal wildlife trade on Nigeria.

Unfortunately, Nigeria has become one of the epicentres for IWT in Africa partly due to weak legislation but also inadequate government enforcement capacity, lack of training, equipment, and incentives. This means illegal criminal networks across West and Central Africa use Nigeria as a transit point from which to export wildlife products such as ivory, pangolin scales and rosewood to the rest of the world,the report stated.

The tourism and conservation sector in Nigeria is also plagued by habitat destruction and fragmentation caused by artisanal mining, deforestation and urbanisation which threaten vital ecosystems. These issues are compounded by inadequate funding, insufficient resources, and weak laws, coupled with poor enforcement. Additionally, low public awareness and the impacts of climate change—evident in rising temperatures and extreme weather events—further affect ecosystems and biodiversity.

Despite these daunting challenges, opportunities abound for conservation and tourism in Nigeria, which has been the focus of ANI Foundation in Gashaka Gumti National Park and Okomu National Park since the signing of partnership agreements with the National Park Service (NPS) to manage both national parks.

In the last 4 years, ANI in partnership with the National Park Service, has invested heavily in recruiting, training and equipping new rangers to patrol both Gashaka Gumti and Okomu National Parks resulting in a dramatic decline in illegal logging, bush meat poaching and mining. The ranger patrols to curtail the illegal activities which were threatening the parks, has been complemented with ANIs efforts to engage all the communities around the parks and to develop livelihood projects (agriculture, health, education, etc.) so the communities have a stake in the protection of these two parks. As a result, there has been a great improvement in the security of both parks making eco-tourism in the parks potentially viable for the first time in decades.

Speaking on further plans to develop the national parks and protect their wildlife in Nigeria, Executive Director of ANI Foundation, Tunde Morakinyo, restated his faith in the Nigerian tourism industry. I am optimistic that in the next couple of years, we will be in a position to launch the first commercial eco-tourism lodge in one of the two national parks where we work. We are determined to demonstrate that eco-tourism in the country’s national parks is possible and will in fact generate jobs and income benefitting the economy of Nigeria.

The Newspointer is one of Nigeria’s leading online news platforms, delivering fresh, factual, and reliable news from our headquarters in Abuja and Jalingo.
Whether you rely on The Newspointer for daily updates, in-depth investigations into pressing national issues, or engaging trending stories, we value your readership and commitment to credible journalism.
Stay connected with The Newspointer Nigeria—your number one favorite news source!
Follow us on X (Twitter), Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook for real-time updates.
Contact Us:
✉️ Email: editor@ishakudanzumi1@gmail.com
📞 Tel: +234 904 314 1414, +234 707 114 4444
Online Editor: Prince Hassan Ishaku
© 2024 TheNewspointer.com.ng – All Rights Reserved.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *