CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Wildlife conservation is to prevent
individual species of wild animals, or sometimes whole communities from
becoming extinct either regionally or globally. Nigeria is blessed with a
rich and unique array of ecosystems and great variety of wildlife, but
the conservation of these resources remains precarious. The National
Parks developed and managed by the Federal Government under the
exclusive legislative list, are to enhance the protection of endangered
species, promote scientific research, encourage educational knowledge
and promote ecotourism.
The enforcement of conservation by
national parks in Nigeria has yielded limited results. Beyond the
establishment of reserves, parks and sanctuaries to protect landscapes,
game, fauna, flora cultural and scientific sites, no concrete efforts
have been put in place check the current and increasing challenge of
land and resource alienation of indigenous population. This neglect
threatens the objective of conservation and integrity of protected
areas. To check this looming threat, the Federal government should move
beyond fortress conservation to practice conservation with rural
development. This involves the recognition of indigenous historical
rights over protected areas and collaboration with locals to manage
national parks found within underdeveloped communities. Within protected
areas, economic growth and development is rudimentary. To achieve
harmony in nature and society, the state should adopt and expand
conservation with development. Park partnership or collaboration should
involve provision of non-agro forestry livelihood alternatives to reduce
local dependence on the forest. The provision of funds by the state and
international organizations to retrain locals on sustainable
agriculture, social development in areas such as spatial development,
education, health care delivery, will encourage local communities to
co-operate with the park by providing skilled, semi-skilled security
labour within protected areas.
Non-Governmental organizations are
largely or totally independent of government, and they exist for a
variety of reasons, usually to further the political or social goals of
their members or funders. They function as charitable or religious
associations, mobilize private funds for development initiatives and
programmes, raise awareness and influence policies in pursuance of the
ideals of democracy, good governance as well as undertake diverse
humanitarian projects that could better the lots of the grassroots.
Examples include improving the state of the national environment,
encouraging the observance of human rights, improving the welfare of the
disadvantaged, or representing a corporate agenda.
To conserve our forests effectively,
there is need for NGOs to study the inherent dependence of the local
people on forest resources and then find ways to implement development
projects which will deter them from degrading the forests. Information
on sustainable forest conservation needs to be disseminated so that the
communities will know the state of forest exploitation, the problems and
consequences of their actions, and the need to participate in
conserving the forest. The most successful conservation project is that
which puts conservation and development activities under the control of
the local people (1UCN, 2009). Ekum (2006) pointed out that, there is an
urgent need for initiating “sustainable livelihood options” that
strengthens rural livelihood security through self-identified and
community managed projects. This will certainly improve standard of
living for present and future generations, economic security,
self-improvement guided by their knowledge and strategies which will
lead to sustainable livelihood.
Yamamotu (2011) wrote that participatory
forest conservation involving NGO’s and community members helps to
protect renewable forest resources with proper consideration of the
social status of the rural communities or forest dwellers. NGO’s play
vital roles in biodiversity conservation particularly in CRNP and their
impact on the communities cannot be overemphasized. They help to build
harmonious relationship between the natural resources it seeks to
conserve and the people who depend directly on these resources for
survival. It also tries to integrate conservation with the natural
development in order to achieve long term sustainable development of our
forests for the benefit of all.
The essence of this research is
therefore to determine the role of NGO’s in wildlife conservation, using
Okwangwo Range of Cross River National Park as a case study.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The Cross River National Park (CRNP) was
established by the Federal Military Government Act of 1991, with the
Cross River gorilla chosen as the theme animal. CRNP is a home to
valuable flora and fauna species. It has two ranges (Oban and Okwangwo)
which are threatened by illegal logging, slash and burn farming and
poaching. The Government tried to stop these forest degrading illegal
activities but maximum result was not seen, which is why
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) waded in to assist Government in
park conservation. It is believed that NGOs play important roles in the
management and conservation of the park to include creation of awareness
and enlightenment programs, provisions of funds for park management,
provision of skilled personnels to run and monitor the affairs of the
park, bringing citizen’s concerns to Government, advocating and
monitoring policy programme encouraging participation of civil society
and stakeholders in park management. However, agilations from other
roles are the provision of basic infractures to local communities to
improve on their livelihood, park management and local communities have
indicated that the support from these organization are not adequate
enough to meet their needs. This position is also held by the management
of Okwangwo range of cross river national park. This study is therefore
expected to evaluate the role of three of the NGOS operating around the
range.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective
of the study is to assess the roles of Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGOs) in wildlife conservation in Okwangwo Range of Cross River
National Park.
The specific objectives are as follows:
1. To examine the impact of the NGOs in the management of Okwangwo Range of CRNP
2. To evaluate the level of conservation education programmes organized by NGOs in support zone communities.
3. To assess the impact of NGO programmes on the livelihoods of support zone communities.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the contribution of the NGOs in the management of Okwangwo Range of CRNP?
2. To what extent have NGO
activities contributed to the enlightenment of local communities on
conservation activities in the study area?
3. What is the impact of activities of NGOs on living standards of support zone communities?
1.5 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES
H0: NGOs have not committed any significant resources towards the management of Okwangwo Range of Cross River National Park
HA: NGOs have committed significant resources towards the management of Okwangwo Range of the park
H0: NGOs have not played any role in the enlightenment of support zone communities on conservation programmes of the park
HA: NGOs have played significant roles in the enlightenment of support zone communities on conservation programmes of the park
H0: The activities of NGOs have not improved the livelihood of support zone communities
HA: NGOs have contributed immensely towards the improvement of the livelihood of support zone communities.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is limited to Okwangwo Range
of Cross River National Park. The study will cover the activities of
NGOs in the Okwangwo Range of CRNP and its support zone communities.
However, for proper study, four (4)
support zone communities were selected for the study to include: Kayang,
Anape, Butatong and Busi; 30 member of staff of Okwangwo range of Cross
River National Park and three NGOs were considered to include: Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS), Development in Nigeria (DIN) and World Wide
Fund for Nature (WWF).