From Godwin Agia, in Jalingo
Nigeria, with its rich natural heritage and diverse wildlife, has the potential to become a leading destination for eco-tourism and conservation. However, the country’s tourism and conservation sector faces significant challenges, including insecurity, poaching, wildlife trafficking, habitat destruction, and inadequate funding.
According to the 2022 Annual Report of the Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation, Nigeria is one of the 10 most biodiverse countries in Africa, with exceptional levels of amphibians, primates, and flora diversity. “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,” the report stated.
Despite its rich biodiversity, Nigeria has little to show in terms of revenue generation, tourism data, positive investment sentiment, and contribution to the national GDP. Insecurity is a major concern, with three valuable national parks – Kainji Lake National Park, Kamuku National Park, and Chad Basin National Park – being taken over by bandits and insurgents. 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 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.
Poaching and wildlife trafficking are also widespread issues, with Nigeria emerging as a major transit hub for wildlife trafficking. The ANI Foundation report noted that illegal wildlife trade is the fourth biggest illegal trade in the world, worth over £15 billion annually. “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.
Despite these challenges, opportunities abound for conservation and tourism in Nigeria. The ANI Foundation has been working in Gashaka Gumti National Park and Okomu National Park, recruiting, training, and equipping new rangers to patrol the parks and engaging local communities in livelihood projects. In the last four 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, bushmeat poaching, and mining.
As a result, there has been a great improvement in the security of both parks, making eco-tourism potentially viable for the first time in decades. The ANI Foundation plans to launch the first commercial eco-tourism lodge in one of the two national parks, demonstrating that eco-tourism in Nigeria’s national parks is possible and can generate jobs and income for the economy. 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 benefiting the economy of Nigeria.”
