Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Nigeria nation director Andrew Dunn is a number one skilled on the forefront of monitoring and defending Nigeria’s endangered gorillas and different wildlife in forests and nationwide parks from going extinct or being hunted by poachers.
Based on the latest Nationwide Technique for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime in Nigeria (2022-2026), Africa’s most populous nation is a house to greater than 864 species of birds, 117 amphibians, 203 reptiles, greater than 775 species of fish, 285 mammals, greater than 4,715 vascular vegetation and certain many extra undocumented species — however each floral and fauna face many threats that consultants like Dunn are attempting to stop to preserve these species.
In an interview with Mongabay, Dunn speaks about how he grew to become entrenched within the animal conservation world and the way WCS Nigeria and different companions are serving to to upscale the safety of endangered species like gorillas, amongst others, in Nigeria’s Cross River State forests and nationwide parks within the southeastern nook of the nation.
Nigeria is likely one of the high biodiversity hotspots on the planet. Nonetheless, over the previous few many years, this plethora of biodiversity has come below important risk amid a quickly rising inhabitants. Inside a decade, Nigeria’s inhabitants rose from 161 million in 2010 to 208.3 million in 2020. This has additional mounted substantial stress on the wealthy variety of natural world species within the nation’s tropical forests, savannas and mangrove ecosystems because of the steady shrinkage of wildlife habitat ensuing from anthropogenic actions of the nation’s rising inhabitants.
On this interview with Mongabay, Andrew Dunn, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Nigeria nation director, spoke about his voyage into the realm of conservation and the way WCS, alongside different companions, helps to guard and protect endangered species of gorillas and different wildlife in Nigeria’s forests.
Dunn famous that one of many greatest conservation points in Nigeria immediately is insecurity and that three of Nigeria’s seven invaluable nationwide parks — Kainji Lake Nationwide Park, Kamuku Nationwide Park and Chad Basin Nationwide Park — have been taken over by bandits and insurgents.
On account of this, Dunn mentioned wildlife rangers are unable to patrol below such circumstances, ensuing within the parks being declared “no-go areas,” which he mentioned is having severe repercussions for conservation and regional safety.
Dunn referred to as for extra assist for the Nationwide Park Service, significantly the availability of higher firearms and ranger coaching, which he mentioned is urgently required, along with stronger collaboration with the Nigerian Military.
Just lately, Nigeria emerged as a serious worldwide unlawful wildlife commerce supply, vacation spot and transit nation for unlawful wildlife commerce globally after it was established that the nation’s inhabitants of greater than 200 million is a serious participant within the worth chains of rosewood, elephant ivory and pangolin scales, amongst different unlawful wildlife commodities being trafficked globally.
Except for the nation’s fast inhabitants progress, a number of the main components recognized as drivers of Nigeria’s organic sources losses are growing charges of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, porous borders, corruption, restricted political will, enforcement difficulties, regional instability, rising financial growth, weak governance and establishments, inhabitants progress and related pressures and poverty.
Different components comparable to habitat change, overexploitation, air pollution, invasive alien species, local weather change and trafficking of wildlife and forest merchandise are additionally mounting each direct and oblique pressures on the nation’s biodiversity.
Based on the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Crimson Listing, Nigeria has a complete of 23 critically endangered, 42 endangered and 104 weak animal species. These categorized as critically endangered in Nigeria embrace the Niger Delta crimson colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), Gambles’s relic (Pentaphlebia gamblesi), Gambles’s flatwing (Neurolestes nigeriensis) and Perret’s toad (Sclerophrys perreti).
Dunn mentioned he’s particularly happy with bringing Cross River gorillas from the sting of extinction to a inhabitants now estimated at 100 in Nigeria and 200 in Cameroon.
The next interview has been calmly edited for size and readability.
Mongabay: Kindly inform us about your self and your background.
Andrew Dunn: My identify is Andrew Dunn, and I’m the nation director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Nigeria. After graduating from college within the U.Okay., I labored as a volunteer analysis assistant on varied tasks within the U.Okay. serving to to review the ecology of Soay sheep, crimson deer, gray seals and fallow deer. I labored on a marine biology station on a distant island off the coast of Eire, and I labored as a botanist within the idyllic Hampshire countryside [in southeastern England]. However itwas at all times my dream to work in Africa, and I really feel blessed to be dwelling and dealing right here immediately. I really feel at house in Africa, however I fell in love with Nigeria.
Mongabay: What led you to embrace conservation work?
Andrew Dunn: I at all times had varied pets as a toddler, loved visiting zoos and tenting within the hills in northern England. As an undergraduate learning biology at London College within the Nineteen Eighties, the place, along with conventional programs on anatomy and taxonomy, we had been additionally taught about nature and the setting, and I used to be closely influenced by books comparable to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. On the time, conservation was a really new and thrilling thought to me and I desperately needed to get entangled. There was nothing else I needed to do, so the selection for me was simple. In fact, I later got here to comprehend that conservation work requires dedication and dedication; it’s a lifestyle reasonably than a job.
Mongabay: Appropriate me if I’m fallacious, however you have got been engaged on conservation points for a really very long time — what are a number of the greatest issues you have got discovered over this era?
Andrew Dunn: I’ve been working in conservation since 1986 and in Africa since 1989. That may sound like a very long time, however I prefer to suppose that I’m nonetheless a younger man. Residing in Africa, I’ve clearly discovered a lot, and I’m nonetheless studying new issues day-after-day. Over time I’ve been fortunate to have had some nice mentors and to have labored with some great folks. After I labored at Gashaka Gumti Nationwide Park [Nigeria’s largest national park] through the Nineties, I used to be lucky sufficient to be guided by Salamu Waziri, a retired buffalo hunter. He didn’t converse a lot English and I didn’t converse a lot Hausa, however it was sufficient, and one way or the other we linked. We trekked the size and breadth of the newly established nationwide park collectively; he was a affected person instructor and confirmed me quite a few animal tracks and indicators that might in any other case have remained unseen by my untrained eye. While I scribbled away in my pocket book, he rigorously collected bark and roots to be used as elements in conventional drugs. Day by day I noticed one thing new, and at some point we tracked a bunch of elephants, which had crossed the border from Cameroon. He was at all times amassing wild honey and we had been continuously chased by swarms of indignant bees.
Over my profession, the largest issues I’ve discovered are: 1. The significance of nationwide parks and guarded areas for conservation, significantly in a rustic comparable to Nigeria, the place the threats are so excessive it’s unlikely that a lot wildlife will survive outdoors protected areas. With out nationwide parks, Nigeria would have little or no wildlife left, so we have to shield them. 2. The significance of working with native communities surrounding protected areas in order that they derive some profit from conservation. With out the assist of native communities, protected areas gained’t survive in the long run. Native communities can assist save protected areas. And three. The significance of constructing a superb staff round you and creating younger expertise. Conservation requires sturdy interdisciplinary groups: Along with biologists and rangers, we additionally want educators, engineers, agronomists and communication specialists. Creating younger expertise is important for the longer term; luckily there’s a lot younger expertise in Nigeria, and as I’ve gotten older, it’s working with younger folks that has helped preserve me younger too.
Mongabay: Why Africa? Why Nigeria? And for a way lengthy have you ever been in your present position?
Andrew Dunn: To me, Africa represents the head of conservation work; it can’t be in contrast with anyplace else. The presence of iconic, charismatic species comparable to elephants, gorillas and lions is so thrilling, and we have to shield them. My first job in Africa was in Liberia, surveying massive mammals throughout the nation, however I used to be evacuated from the nation through the civil battle. Luckily, I used to be fortunate sufficient to be despatched to Nigeria in 1992 by WWF-UK, conducting the primary surveys of the newly created Gashaka Gumti Nationwide Park in Taraba and Adamawa states.
Nigerians are heat, beneficiant folks and I rapidly felt at house. There is no such thing as a place like Nigeria; I believe Nigeria discovered me. I’ve labored for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Nigeria since 2004. WCS has grown quickly since then.
Mongabay: The world has undergone so many environmental modifications because you commenced your conservation work in Africa. What do you see sooner or later?
Andrew Dunn: Because the human inhabitants in Africa continues to develop, wildlife can be more and more confined to small refuges comparable to our nationwide parks. Sooner or later, such areas will solely survive if they supply actual advantages to surrounding communities. So, sooner or later, I see stronger partnerships between protected areas and surrounding communities. A beautiful instance of that is within the Mbe Mountains in Cross River state [in the southeastern corner of the country], the place the encircling 9 communities got here collectively to kind a conservation affiliation to guard Cross River gorillas and different endangered wildlife. However undoubtedly the threats will proceed to develop, and this can require higher ranges of political dedication from authorities, donor funding and expanded partnerships with native communities.
Mongabay: What are your perceptions about Nigeria’s biodiversity?
Andrew Dunn: Nigeria nonetheless incorporates a wealth of biodiversity, however its significance is uncared for and never widely known. Nigeria has very excessive ranges of species richness and endemism, significantly for primates, birds and amphibians. Though some species have gone extinct [locally], such because the giraffe and cheetah, Nigeria has the rarest gorilla in Africa, referred to as the Cross River gorilla, in addition to the rarest sort of chimpanzee — the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee [Pan troglodytes ellioti]. Habitats in Nigeria vary from mangroves, rainforest, savanna, mountains and deserts — so the nation is extraordinarily wealthy in biodiversity comparable to birds and butterflies.
Mongabay: What are crucial tasks/works of WCS Nigeria immediately?
Andrew Dunn: WCS Nigeria focuses on defending Cross River gorillas, forest elephants and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees at three websites in Cross River state: Cross River Nationwide Park, Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary and the Mbe Mountains. WCS additionally has an necessary mission to assist shield savanna elephants and lions in Yankari Sport Reserve in Bauchi state. WCS does this by working with companions such because the Nationwide Park Service, the Cross River Forestry Fee, Bauchi state authorities, and the Conservation Affiliation of the Mbe Mountains. With out the intervention of WCS during the last 20 years, it’s possible that Cross River gorillas would now be extinct, and I’m very proud that now we have been capable of save Cross River gorillas from extinction. With out the intervention of WCS, it’s unlikely that there can be any elephants left in Yankari immediately. We’re working with native communities to guard forested watersheds, necessary for sustainable water provides throughout the nation. WCS is working to enhance the sustainability of cocoa manufacturing in Cross River state and to scale back charges of forest loss. WCS is working with pastoralists round Yankari Sport Reserve to vaccinate their livestock and develop sustainable grazing outdoors the reserve.
Mongabay: What do you suppose are the largest conservation points in Nigeria immediately?
Andrew Dunn: A lot is talked about unlawful logging, however habitat loss attributable to agricultural growth by smallholder farmers is a way more severe risk to the remaining forests in Cross River state. Looking to produce the bushmeat commerce is clearly a serious conservation situation, and immediately there’s little wildlife left outdoors of protected areas. A serious risk to protected areas throughout northern Nigeria is prohibited livestock grazing, and as grazing reserves and inventory routes are misplaced and transformed to agriculture, pastoralists typically have little possibility however to graze their livestock inside nationwide parks. The best risk to elephants within the county is human-elephant battle brought on when elephants depart protected areas and raid native farms.
However the greatest conservation situation in Nigeria immediately is insecurity. Three invaluable nationwide parks (Kainji Lake Nationwide Park, Kamuku Nationwide Park and Chad Basin Nationwide Park) have been taken over by bandits and insurgents. Rangers are unable to patrol below such circumstances, and the parks have develop into no-go areas with severe repercussions for conservation in addition to regional safety. Extra assist for the Nationwide Park Service, significantly the availability of higher firearms and ranger coaching, is urgently required, along with stronger collaboration with the military.
Mongabay: We perceive that in 2018, Nigeria joined the Elephant Safety Initiative (EPI), a bunch of 20 African international locations working to shut down the ivory commerce and ivory markets and push member international locations to develop Nationwide Elephant Motion Plans. What affect would you say this has had on the conservation efforts of this endangered species in Nigeria?
Andrew Dunn: WCS and EPI have labored collectively to supply a Nationwide Elephant Motion Plan for Nigeria, which can be launched later this yr. We hope the plan will assist focus consideration on uncared for elephant populations in Nigeria so their decline is arrested and that the species begins to get well. The plan identifies human-elephant battle (HEC) as the primary risk to elephants in Nigeria and proposes plenty of actions to mitigate ranges of HEC, comparable to the usage of elephant guardians, watchtowers, beehive fences and the planting of much less palatable crops comparable to chile pepper in affected areas.
Mongabay: In July 2020, with the assistance of digital camera traps, your staff was capable of uncover and seize the first-ever pictures of a Cross River gorilla troop, together with pictures of a number of child and adolescent gorillas. How has the introduction and utilization of digital camera traps affected your conservation efforts in Nigeria?
Andrew Dunn: Latest digital camera entice pictures have recorded the presence of a number of toddler gorillas — a serious conservation success story. Digital camera traps assist us monitor the standing of uncommon, shy species such because the Cross River gorilla, that are arduous to see. Digital camera entice pictures of toddler gorillas and elephants with younger calves assist verify that our conservation methods are working and that endangered species are slowly recovering.
Mongabay: Do you additionally take note of lesser-known species inside the forests?
Andrew Dunn: Sure, all species are necessary — not simply nice apes. However the Cross River gorilla is our flagship species in Nigeria. After many years of decline, the inhabitants has established and there have been no data of gorilla poaching for a few years.
Mongabay: How do you are feeling about these different species other than the gorillas, chimpanzees and different apes?
Andrew Dunn: In addition to nice apes, lions and elephants, Nigeria has so many different great species of which we must be proud. My favourite species in Nigeria are leopard [Panthera pardus], large pangolin [Smutsia gigantea], crimson river hog [Potamochoerus porcus], large forest hog [Hylochoerus meinertzhageni], golden cat [Caracal aurata], manatee [Trichechus senegalensis], aardvark [Orycteropus afer], crested porcupine [Hystrix cristata], roan antelope [Hippotragus equinus], hippopotamus [Choeropsis liberiensis], crocodile [Crocodylus suchus], honey badger [Mellivora capensis], flying squirrel [Anomalurus beecrofti] and otters [Aonyx capensis and Lutra maculicollis].
Mongabay: How do these much less acknowledged species participate in WCS’ general work?
Andrew Dunn: Defending habitat for iconic species comparable to gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants additionally protects habitat for much less acknowledged species. Decreasing ranges of looking advantages all species, not solely gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants.
Mongabay: There might be lots of gloom and doom in environmental conversations immediately, with so many simultaneous crises (local weather, biodiversity, and so on.). The place do you discover hope?
Andrew Dunn: I discover hope in Nigeria’s younger folks; solely they’ll carry in regards to the change we’d like. I discover hope within the younger Nigerian biologists I work with day-after-day on the Wildlife Conservation Society; they’re so proficient and devoted, and so they preserve me younger. Regardless of all of the threats, I discover hope that species such because the Cross River gorilla are thriving within the Mbe Mountains and Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary.
Mongabay: What are your hopes and targets?
Andrew Dunn: My hope is that at some point we can reintroduce a few of Nigeria’s extinct species comparable to giraffe, cheetah, wild canine and even rhinoceros. My purpose is to proceed to construct the Wildlife Conservation Society in Nigeria right into a stronger, more practical group; to broaden our scope to new websites. Up to now, conservation has been dominated by males, however WCS is actively in search of to deal with that imbalance and to recruit extra ladies in conservation.
Mongabay: The place do you see your self in 10 years?
Andrew Dunn: Properly, I’m 59, so in 10 years I might be completely happy to seek out myself nonetheless above floor.
Mongabay: How do you image Nigeria and its setting in 10 years?
Andrew Dunn: In 10 years, I image a Nigeria the place corruption has been decreased and younger persons are extra concerned in governing the nation in order that Nigeria can begin to fulfil its potential. I image a Nigeria the place younger voices are heard and revered and their affect helps management environmental coverage within the nation.
Banner picture: Andrew Dunn, the nation director of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Nigeria. Picture courtesy of WCS, Nigeria Program.
Citations:
Ogbonnaya, D., Mahmoud, A., & Odinaka, U. (2021). Entrenching public relations as an inclusive training technique to generate dependable crime statistics in Nigeria. Actuality of Politics, 15(1), 72-95. doi:10.15804/rop2021105
Altıparmak, S. O. (2022). An evaluation of Nigeria’s biodiversity governance: Insurance policies, establishments, and challenges. Üsküdar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 8(14), 41-67. doi:10.32739/uskudarsbd.8.14.101
