Conservationist canvasses more govt involvement in nature preservation
Nigeria Conservation Forum (NCF) has called on governments at all levels to do more in preserving the full range of Nigeria’s biodiversity and also promote sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of the present and future generations.
The foremost conservationist in Nigeria explains that governments need to do more in preserving nature in order to increase the quality of human life, minimize pollution and also enable efficient utilization of renewable resources.
While giving an account of the NCF 2017 activities, NCF BOT
Philip Asiodu, NCF Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman, who made this call at the foundation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently, observed that diverse concerns and issues raised in its 2017 lecture generated long discussions in the traditional media, which NCF followed up with a market survey in some South Western states to study the trade in vultures as stakeholders’ conferences were also organised in selected states as part of a vulture advocacy campaign.
“In furtherance of our mission to promote forest conservation, our new flagship project, Green Recovery Nigeria Initiatives (GRNI), which was launched in 2016, made progress with the convening of a meeting of stakeholders in June 2017 which helped to chart a strategy for national reforestation programme,” Asiodu said.
According to him, NCF also added its voice to the campaign to save parts of the Cross River rainforest from potential destruction through the proposed route for the construction of the 257km Super Highway in the Calabar-Ikom-Katsina-Ala axis.
“Our Abuja office advocated for the establishment or improvement of laws and policies such as the establishment of a national policy on Wetlands; protection of some important species and key biodiversity areas and upgrading of these sites to Protected Area,” Asiodu said.
He also noted that there was a slight increase in the foundation’s membership base for the year which encourages it to put in more efforts at becoming a mass membership organization in the coming years.
Ede Dafinone, chairman, executive council of NCF, said the year under review kicked-off with the foundation’s Vulture Advocacy Campaign conducted in partnership with Birdlife International which was aimed at reducing the threat of human activities on vulture populations in Nigeria.
“As part of NCF’s advocacy efforts and the importance attached to the illegal trade in wildlife, the Foundation’s 2017 calendar was themed Stop Wildlife Trade, the publication was used in highlighting the need to conserve six endangered wildlife-Nigerian-Cameroon Chimpanzee, African Forest Elephant, Cross River Gorilla, Pangolin, Sea Turtle and Vultures,” Chairman of NCF said.
He noted that NCF’s activities in Calabar and environs were focused on community based projects aimed at improving the livelihoods of various communities by training people on how to live sustainably within their environment which was sponsored by UNDP Global Environment Facility, Small Grant Programmes.
Muhtari Aminu-Kano, director general of NCF, appreciated every NCF’s member for his support to the foundation in these times when environment challenges were becoming more intense and complex.
“Despite the challenges in the operating environment, NCF has tried to maintain its core activities focused on Save the Vultures Campaign, Green Recovery Nigeria (GRN) initiative, Sustainable Living in some communities in Calabar, Mangrove restoration, Environmental Education such as Waste Management campaign, Alternative Energy campaign, advocacy efforts such as those on the Cross River Superhighway,” Aminu-Kano, Director General of NCF, said.
He said that, as parts of efforts at bringing forest restoration to the consciousness of Nigerians, NCF held a stakeholder’s summit on GRN initiative for which they invited participants from all relevant sectors drawn from state governments, federal government agencies, NGOs, academic institutions and corporate organisations.
“Many community members were trained on how to domesticate Afang Vegetable, snail rearing, cassava processing and other enterprises in order to reduce the pressure on them since they rely on the forest for survival,” Aminu-Kano said.
Leading Auditing firm in Nigeria, Deloitte firm who audited the foundation’s financial accounts, said the statement gave a true and fair view of the financial position of NCF as at 31 December 2017 and the financial performance and cash flows for that year in accordance with international financial reporting standards.
NCF is a foremost environmental Organisation (NGO) dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable development in Nigeria and was registered in 1982 as a charitable Trust.
DIPO OLADEHINDE