THE ROLE OF NGOs IN THE MANAGEMENT OF
OKWANGWO RANGE OF CROSS RIVER NATIONAL PARK
(FORESTRY
AND WILDLIFE
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT)
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.