BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
The National Park Service (NPS) has raised concern over persistent forest destruction as Nigeria loses over 300 hectares of forest reserve daily.
Conservator-General of the National Park Service, Dr Ibrahim Goni stated this when members of the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN) paid a courtesy visit to the service’s headquarters in Abuja.
Goni identified illegal logging and hunting as the longstanding threats to forest conservation, warning that continued forest loss could accelerate desertification and worsen environmental degradation.
He informed that the expansion of the national park system was partly intended to restore degraded vegetation and strengthen the country’s response to climate change.
Currently, Nigeria has 17 national parks, 13 of which are operational, compared with seven before the establishment of 10 additional parks during the administration of the late President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Goni explained that the expansion was intended to support vegetation regeneration in areas previously designated as forest or game reserves and contribute to the country’s climate commitments.
He enjoined EMCAN members to use their platforms to highlight issues affecting forests, wildlife and protected areas, adding that increased visibility could help mobilise public support and encourage stronger institutional responses.
The CG sought greater public awareness of environmental pollution, flooding, erosion and other ecological challenges confronting the country.
He pointed out that the Federal Ministry of Environment had introduced flood-warning equipment in several parts of Nigeria to alert communities to impending floods and enable residents to move to safer locations.
Goni appealed to environmental journalists to support public education on Ebola prevention and the relationship between wildlife and the transmission of certain infectious diseases.
He pledged to work with the media to improve public understanding of conservation and promote responsible interaction with wildlife, promising to consider issues relating to journalists’ welfare, professional training and participation in conferences within the service’s budgetary framework.
Goni described environmental journalists as strategic partners in the campaign to protect Nigeria’s natural resources and Wildlife, saying that increased media attention helps to bring conservation challenges to the forefront of public discourse and encourage action by relevant authorities.
He lamented that many problems confronting national parks and forest reserves remained underreported, making media engagement essential to improving public awareness and strengthening advocacy.
“We are comfortable to have you as partners. We are also comfortable to collaborate with you so that our issues can be given widespread visibility,” he added.
The CG identified illegal mining and hunting, timber exploitation, banditry and kidnapping as major threats to the effective management of national parks and other protected areas.
He informed that the interconnected nature of Nigeria’s forests makes it difficult to isolate national parks from criminal activities taking place in surrounding forest reserves.
Goni informed that even when security operations succeed in containing criminal elements within a national park, adjoining forests could provide alternative hideouts, thereby complicating efforts to maintain security.
The Chairman of EMCAN, Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah noted that the association is committed to bridging the communication gap between environmental agencies including the National Park Service and the media.
She explained that the association’s new leadership, elected about two months ago, had identified inadequate engagement between environmental agencies and journalists as one of the major challenges affecting effective reporting of the sector.
Adah noted that the association decided to engage relevant agencies to introduce its leadership, establish working relationships and ensure that journalists covering environmental issues have access to information about their activities.
"As journalists, our job is to report on this sector. In every parastatal, there is an environment correspondent, and the job of that correspondent is to report on the sector,” she added.
The visit offered an opportunity to build a lasting partnership through which environmental challenges could receive greater public attention and conservation efforts could benefit from stronger media advocacy.
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