The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) organised workshops tagged ‘Regional Common Action Plan on Combatting Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) in Abeokuta and Kano on 26th and 30th March respectively. The objectives of the workshops were to improve awareness on the Illegal Wildlife Trade issue with vulture as target species, to bring to front burner, the common challenges and limitations against enforcement of wildlife laws in Nigeria, sensitize the enforcement and border control agencies on the need to get more knowledge, understand the law and intensify efforts on enforcement. Illegal wildlife trade as fourth transnational crime in global rating poses threats to biodiversity comprising iconic animals such as elephants, rhinos, leopards and pangolins while birds such as vultures and African grey parrot are not exempted from this threat. It was revealed that the Nigeria Customs Service, made several seizures by profiling the containers, elephant tusks, pangolin scales, rhino horn. It was also revealed that majority of 1,169 forest reserves in Nigeria suffer neglect, degradation, poaching and are not properly managed. Some of the challenges against curbing the menace of Illegal Wildlife Trade include shortage of forest guards, high rate of poverty among forest dwellers, over-dependency on the forest resources, lack of modern…
The Board of Trustees, National Executive Council and Management of Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) commiserate with Her Majesty, the Queen and the Royal Family on the passing away of HRH, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, on Friday, 9th April, 2021 at the age of 99. Prince Philip was a friend to the late Chief S.L. Edu, the founder of NCF. As then President of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), he supported Chief Edu in establishing the NCF and continued to give his support to the organization until it became fully fledged. At the instance of NCF, Prince Philip has visited Nigeria on a number of occasions and thereby bringing to global prominence some of Nigeria’s rich natural heritage. The international recognition that the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands first received was as result of his efforts. The area is now officially recognized by the United Nations amongst the Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar site) and is part of the Nigerian National Parks System. On 18th February 1989, he laid the Foundation stone of the Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC), which was jointly developed by NCF and Chevron Nigeria Ltd (CNL). He also commissioned the Centre after its completion. We join the rest of…
A leading conservation organisation, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) scaled up its advocacy for vultures with the production of a documentary titled "Our Plights to Survive: Nigeria's Vulture and Wildlife Trade Crisis" which was premiered on Wednesday, 24th March at Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos. The documentary is aimed at intensifying NCF’s campaign on vulture conservation in Nigeria and the intricate link between vultures killing and illegal wildlife trade. The production is supported by United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Egyptian Vulture New LIFE project. The documentary reveals how vultures are heavily traded as commodities in the wildlife market in the South-Western and Northern parts of Nigeria. It also shows threats to vultures emanating from poachers, wildlife traffickers, traditional medicine practitioners as well as many people who perceive the bird as ominous. Dr. Muhtari Aminu-Kano, Director-General of NCF, in his welcome address, expressed gratitude to NCF members, partners and ‘Save Vultures Campaign Ambassadors’ for their continued support for NCF and conservation efforts in Nigeria. He said that a campaign for the survival of vultures translates to the survival of the ecosystem and other species. He urged the general public to team up with NCF in the war against vultures’ extinction,…
In commemoration of the 2021 International Day of Forests with the theme “Forest and Biodiversity”, employees of Keystone Bank have teamed up with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in a 100 fruit trees planting exercise. The occasion will witness employees of the bank plant seedlings of jack fruit, tenera oil palm, cashew and mango donated by NCF in their homes. This exercise aligns with achieving our goals of preserving and restoring the environment for the benefit of the people. It equally supports NCF’s Green Recovery initiative, a 30-year programme aimed at increasing Nigeria’s forest cover to at least 25% over the next 30 years. The initiative is coming at a time when Nigeria is recording one of the highest rate of forest loss globally. The country is said to have lost over 90% of its forest cover to degradation, unsustainable development and over-exploitation of the forest. Thus, such collaborative effort on a larger scale could be crucial towards reversing the trend of deforestation in Nigeria. “We depend on forests for our survival as trees provide the air we breathe. Forest also offer ecosystem services, enhance global food security and mitigate the effect of climate change.” Dr. Muhtari Aminu-Kano, Director General…
Our attention has been drawn to a social media post about a man in a village in Warri, Delta State who caught and killed a Blue Marlin with an estimated value of $2million while he was on a fishing expedition on Monday, 8th March, 2021. The story has it that the fisherfolk killed and shared the flesh with his family and community members. This is an unacceptable behaviour towards our biodiversity especially for creatures that are endangered and most suitable for research and environmental education purposes. This incident highlights the need for more awareness campaigns and education to coastal dwellers to enlighten them on the importance of these species and their responsibility in protecting marine creatures. The Blue Marlin is currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Conservation status (Red List), meaning that the population is decreasing at an alarming rate. We are saddened by the destructive practices along the coastline including pollution and, in this case, unsustainable harvest of marine creatures. These and other reasons made NCF to organize a Marine Stakeholders’ Workshop in collaboration with the Rivers State University (RSU) in 2019 to create more awareness and find a lasting solution to these challenges. NCF is using this…
The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), with the support of National Park Service trained 50 Park Rangers of Okomu National Park, Edo State, and empowered 240 members of the neighbouring communities through two separate intensive capacity building workshops on 1st – 5th March, 2021. The core objective of the training was to improve the security and tourism infrastructure for the effective management of the Park. Other objectives include enhancement of the management and governance of priority Protected Areas (PA) by addressing existing limitations; enforce the legal framework required to achieve effective biodiversity conservation in PAs; support local communities' initiatives aiming to enhance the livelihoods of local people whilst effectively contributing to PA management; and promote the ecotourism potential of the Park. This was done with the financial contribution of the European Union and the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States through the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme. The hands-on capacity building training for Park Rangers was to aid Rangers’ knowledge in the area of data collection, surveillance operations, nature interpretation, conflict resolution and effective protection of species within the Park. NCF donated critical field and surveillance equipment to the Park to enhance its logistical and operational capacities on…
More...
Feedback
