By Folorunsho Koker
The World Wildlife Day, celebrated recently on March 3, gave me the opportunity to reflect upon the state of the natural world. It forms an integral part of the tourist experience and is the native space of those of us who work with tourism. This is especially true as nature continues to experience a series of impacts that have led us to worry about climate change. These include rising water levels, massive floods, desertification, and heat storms. All of these are fundamentally altering the environment we have come to love, celebrate, and work with.
There is also a continuing loss of biodiversity, as a result of the constant decimation of wildlife stocks, including the flora, fauna, and plants that have contributed to the natural ecosystem’s beauty and balance.
It is possible to continue to be obsessed with experiencing the natural and built environment through tourism, but only if we are aware of the urgent need to address its decline and the many elements that make it up, and then make the necessary efforts to mitigate these.
Today, I support the advocacy of a wide range of actors from Nigeria and around the globe who understand the stakes we have in protecting and protecting the natural world and the ecosystem with all its diverse shades of biodiversity and pushing back their degradation in very deliberate ways.
It is clear that the global warming that has characterized the climate patterns has been caused by the loss of the atmospheric ozone layer due to the industrial revolutions and our consumption habits that followed. This has been attendant upon the upsurge of greenhouse gases from the burning of hydrocarbons, as much as it has been due to industrial emissions, deforestation, alongside other environmentally-impacting economic activities.
In the last century, our rainforests have been steadily depleted. The savannahs, mangrove forests, and other ecosystems have also changed. Meanwhile, the Sahel has been increasing its influence, along with the loss biodiversity plants, animals, and the many species of wildlife that are either moving or dying in massive waves of transcontinental migration.
Nigeria’s Biodiversity Loss and Endowment
The Nigerian biodiversity has been a vital part of the tourism endowment since time immemorial. It motivates people to travel to areas where certain species or plants are in existence, both for their nutritional and therapeutic benefits. The rise in human population has accelerated the demand for gaming, hunting, and harvesting of biodiversity resources. However, this has significantly engendered their loss and the urgent need to protect them.
According to records, Nigeria’s biodiversity treasure trove includes almost 8 000 species of plants spread across 300 families and more that 2,200 genera. There are 22,000 species of vertebrate/invertebrate species in Nigeria, including over 20,000 insects, 1000 birds, 1,000 fishes, 123 reptiles, and 247 mammals. A total of 1,500 species have been documented, which is essential to the remarkable biodiversity of the country, which spans the arid North to Southern Nigeria and the diverse vegetation subsets between.
Despite the diversity and range of these treasures and the fact that they are so numerous, our biodiversity has suffered huge losses over the past century due to the activities of humans driving progress and advancement. Many species have been lost forever, but many others are still at risk from poaching, illegal hunting/gaming, climate change, and other threats. A number of endangered species of Nigerian wildlife have been identified. These include the ostriches, gorillas, grey parrots, genera of crocodiles. African manatee, chimpanzees, giraffes, hippopotamus and hippopotamus..
The African teak, F.White or Diospyros-elliotii(Hiern), African fennel flowers, the sausage tree or Kigelia and then the Garcina Manni, Oucunbaca Aubrevillei and Erythrina Senegalensis, Cassia Nigeriansis, Hymenocardia acida are some examples of threatened plants/trees.
Stopping the Biodiversity Loss and Decline
The creation of the World Wildlife Day in December 2013 was a result of recognition of the importance of animal biodiversity worldwide, their vital significance, and alarm at the gradual extinction of these species due to natural and human-made factors. This was proclamated by the 68Thsession of United Nations General Assembly, adopted the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and declared March 3rd the day to promote awareness and celebrate the world’s biodiversity of wildlife and wild flora and flora.
It has been estimated that more than a million species wild fauna and flora are at risk of extinction. This motivated the 2022 World Wildlife Day theme to be Recovering key species for ecosystem recovery. This is to highlight the need for conservation and protection of endangered species. This aligns and enhances the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13, 14 and 15, which all emphasize the need for commitments to the sustainable use and conservation of the world’s resources.
The 2022 World Wildlife Day reflects the urgency of restoring the planet’s biodiversity and restoring the ecosystem. A network of protected areas was created in Nigeria after the recognition of the importance of conserving our wildlife and other important animal and plant species.
Landscapes of Natural Tourism Assets
The nine national parks cover 2.4 million hectares in Nigeria. These are in addition to the other areas mentioned, such as forest reserves and games reserve. These parks are remarkable eco-tourism destinations and have over 1,300 species of animals, including 800 birds. They also support hundreds of rare fauna and flora.
These diverse ecological domains contain many historical and cultural monuments. They make up the Chad Basin National Park, North-Eastern Nigeria. It includes the Sambisa Game Reserve as well as the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands. The Cross River National Park also includes the Okwangwo-Oban sections that span some 4,000km of rainforests in the central and north, and the mangrove swamps at the coast.
Gashaka-Gumti National Park is also available. It is a combination of two games reserves that runs from Taraba and Adamawa States to the Nigerian border with Cameroon. The Kainji National Park is located between Niger and Kwara States. These include the Kainji Lake where fishing is restricted, as well as the Zuguruma Game Reserve (to the southeast) and the Borgu Game Reserve (to the west), which cover an area totalling 5,341 km2.
Kamuku National Park in Kaduna State has a total area of 1,120 kilometres. The ecology here is dominated by the Sudan Savanna. Old Oyo National Park runs through Oyo State’s northern half and Kwara State’s southern half. There is also the Jos Wildlife National Park (Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria) and Yankari National Park (Banki State), which extends to the North-Eastern areas of the country. This forest covers an area of more than 1,082 kilometres.
We are bound to continue to improve our efforts in conservation and protection of biodiversity. This includes the unique fauna and flora that make up our ecosystem and natural habitats. This has been a key objective of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in its policies on nature, whose balance we all depend on for our survival on this planet and the enjoyment of tourism. This aligns with international standards, such as Sustainable Development Goals. But, it’s also about real pragmatism, good economics, and real pragmatism.
While many of the British forest reserves were established by the British, they were later converted into national parks and conservation areas. This is why it is so urgent that we all preserve this legacy. We also exhort others at the National Tourism Development Corporation to do the same. This will allow us to continue to enjoy all that our environment and biodiversity have to offer.
Feminists are the Future of Our World and Tourism
I won’t stop this essay about the necessity of protecting nature and the environmental environment without offering a resounding salutation our womenfolk for their work in tourism. This was in keeping with the International Womens Day 2022.
It is no secret that women account for half of the world’s population and Nigeria. Unfortunately, the burdens of tradition, conventions, society and society still limit their potential and limit their potential. To unlock the future we seek and allow it to be diverse, we must all become feminists and support our womenfolk in their potential and abilities. God, please help us.
Chief Folorunsho, the Baba Eto of Yorubaland and Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (Nitomian Tourism Development Corporation), is the chief marketer of Nigerian destinations.