Assessment of wild-animal crop raiding and it’s influence on wildlife conservation around Kainji Lake National Park, Nigeria

Projects linking conservation and development have been implemented around protected areas with a trust to generate benefits for local communities to garner support for the conservation of biodiversity in Nigeria's protected areas. Hence, this study assessed the Park's benefits to surrounding communities and its impact on wildlife conservation in Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP), Nigeria, to provide park managers with additional information in planning their activities. Four (4) randomly selected villages: Luma, Malale, Wawa and Gada Oli were surveyed with 110 questionnaire copies. The results show that the majority of respondents (55.5%) are males, whereas most households (38.18%) comprise 6 to 10 members. The major occupation of the respondents revealed that 42.7% were farmers in the surrounding national park, followed by traders (20%) and civil servants (16.4%). Most of the respondents were non-indigenes of the communities, while 37.20% of the respondents indicated that their monthly income was between ₦20,001 and ₦40,000. Eighty four per cent (84%) of the respondents agreed that the host communities' derived lots of benefits from KLNP, which include the donation of farm inputs (38.18%), employment (18.18%), empowerment programmes (16.36%) and infrastructural development (14.55%) through a majority (65%) of respondents indicated that there is no communities' involvement in the planning of park-initiated projects. The study further established that there is a significant relationship between income and the perception of respondents to wildlife conservation. However, other variables, such as age, sex, occupation, education, and household size are not significant to the notion. This study shows that Kainji Lake National Park's surrounding communities have an overall positive attitude towards the park. However, local people's responses to specific concerns and benefits showed a mixed perception. It is imperative for park authority to build on the communities' perception of conservation and development outcomes. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2023, 9(2): 49-56

The establishment and management of Protected Areas have become the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation strategies. However, efforts aimed to manage these areas have paid little or no attention to livelihoods and needs of the surrounding communities. Therefore, this study assesses the socio-economic predictors of the local people's needs and also establishes the link between biodiversity conservation and rural development. A survey of villages around four Nigerian national parks has been carried out to determine available infrastructural facilities, the facilities mostly desired by villagers and the socio-economic predictors of the local people's needs and their dependence on the national park resources. The selection of the study areas was performed through multi-stage random sampling, with a focus on villages within a 10-km radius of each national park boundaries. Primary data were collected from 1500 respondents in 106 local communities around four national parks, i.e. 22 around the Cross River National Park (CRNP), 22 around the Gashaka Gumti National Park (GGNP), 27 around the Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP), and 35 around the Old Oyo National Park (OONP). The collected data were analysed and presented descriptively, while logistic regression was used to identify the socio-demographic predictors of needs by local people. Results of the demographic characteristics show that there were more male respondents interviewed (73.2%) than female respondents (26.8%) in all four national parks. In all the four studied national parks, farming has a predominant occupation: CRNP (99.3%), GGNP (93.9%), KLNP (90.5%), and OONP (85.2%). The major number of respondents is married: CRNP (77.0%), GGNP (70.0%), KLNP (84.4%), and OONP (79.6%), and is within the age group of 15–25 years: CRNP (43.0%), GGNP (30.0%), KLNP (36.2%) and OONP (25.2%). All of the respondents interviewed in CRNP were Christians (100%), while the majority of respondents in GGNP (87.3%), KLNP (99.2%), and OONP (53.1%) were Muslims. In terms of educational qualifications, there was a high level of illiteracy among the people living around the studied national parks as most of the respondents in CRNP had primary (45.3%) and secondary education (32.7%). However, for the other three national parks, we demonstrated a higher percentage of non-formal education: GGNP (61.5%), KLNP (63.1%) and OONP (68.1%). The obtained results show that the study area is characterised by a lack of infrastructures, such as roads (96.4%), electricity (97.7%) and limited provision of service, such as medicine (91.1%), potable water (96.5%), and education services (86.6%). The majority of the interviewed respondents in communities around the national parks indicated the provision of health care centres (78.5%), boreholes/portable water (77.7%), roads (68.6%), the establishment of schools (59.7%) and employment (56.2%). Our results show that the communities' expectation was for basic infrastructures, such as the provision of potable water (77.5%), health care centres (78.5%), electricity (78.1%), and roads (68.9%). The logistic regression analysis indicated that the predictors of the respondents' infrastructural needs were gender (β = 0.068, p < 0.01), age (β = 0.032, p < 0.01), and education level (β = 0.047, p < 0.05). The study concludes that there is a need for the federal, state and local governments to provide the basic infrastructures in villages surrounding the studied national parks to reduce the pressure and over-dependence of the local people on the national park resources. The literacy campaign and conservation education should be taken to the grass-root because the majority of the local people are illiterates and live around biodiversity hotspots.

The objective of tis paper is to investigate the Effects of Banditry and Illegal Logging on Conservation in Kainji Lake National Park, North Central, Nigeria using standard procedures by distributing one hundred and ninety four (194) questionnaires, of which one hundred and thirteen (113) were completed and returned. The result of demographic characteristics of respondents indicates that the male respondents were dominant (75.7%). Furthermore, 51.4% of the sampled populations’ falls between age group 35-44 years, followed by 25-34 years with 30.8% and age group 45 and above were the least (17.8%). The finding further revealed that majority of the respondents was married (71.0%) and 59.8% of the respondents had tertiary education while 40.2% had secondary education. Also, majority of the respondents are Muslims (71.0%) while 29.0 are Christian. Majority of the respondents (52.3%) had worked between 11-20 years. The respondent’s monthly income of the majority (55.1%) respondents is between N50, 000-99,000. The species of tree and animals that are mostly affected by illegal logging includes; Adansoniadigitata, Afzelia africana, Milicia excels etc. The animal species includes Grim duiker, Guinea fowl, Bushbuck, Rabbit etc. The effects of banditry and illegal logging on wildlife conservation in Kainji Lake are destruction of habitat (45.1%) and decline in wildlife population (38.1%) recorded the highest percentages, followed by loss of biodiversity (11.5%) while climate change is the least with 4.4%. The management strategies to proffer solution to the menace in the study area in which adequate field equipment for staff recorded the highest with 31.9%, followed by adequate staff training with 30.1% while demarcation of Park boundary recorded the least with 15.0%. The study concludes that there are banditry and illegal logging activities in Kainji Lake National Park.

Irrespective of consistent environmental awareness created by different conservation institutions in Nigeria the level of environmental degradation has remained on the increase. There is therefore an urgent need to investigate the effectiveness of the strategies used for both environmental education, and the development of the environmental educators. Assessment of Environmental Education and Manpower development strategies in Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP) was therefore conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of the strategies; and factors militating against effective environmental education in the park. Data for this study were obtained through personal observations, administrative record, three sets of structured questionnaires and in depth interview with experienced members of staff and knowledgeable indigenes of host communities. A set of questionnaire was administered to thirty percent of staff in the park. The second set was randomly administered to thirty percent of household representatives in ten easily accessible communities bordering the park, while the third was administered to 59% of all students of the Department of Forestry, University of Port Harcourt who visited KLNP for industrial attachment. In all 100 staff members, 403 household representatives and 42 students were sampled. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics in the form of percentages and frequencies. Environmental education level was rated high in KLNP by staff (82.00%) and student (83.00%) respondents. Strategies of environmental education in the park were listed as industrial attachment (IT)(25.0%), mass media (18.00%), seminars (18.00%), hand bills / fliers (14.00%) and workshop (12.00%) and excursions. As a tool for man power development, Industrial Training (I.T) was rated very effective by staff (79.80%), and student (69.00%) respondents. Also rated effective by staff respondents were In – service training (79.80%) and workshop (67.10%). Majority of the student respondents rated I.T very effective as a man power development strategy. A total of 482 students from 19 higher institutions across different geopolitical zones of Nigeria have participated in I.T. of KLNP between 1979 and 2005, while a total of 22,894 students from different states of Nigeria have visited KLNP in form of excursion, with the highest participation experienced in 1998 (2,591). Also 158 workers of KLNP have participated in different forms of staff empowerment programme between 2004 and 2009, with the highest participation recorded in 2008 (78,48%). More so, 220 staff of KLNP have participated in In – service training between 2000 and 2010. Problems militating against effective environmental education and manpower development in the park were inadequate funding (85%) and low educational level of community dwellers (33.00%).Students’ industrial attachment is the most effective strategy of man power development in KLNP that can have national spread and sustainable impact, while students’ excursion is an effective strategy of also having a sustainable environmental education that spreads across the country. But, at local level, focus discussion and use of radio are the most effective environmental awareness strategy among communities bordering the park, while in – service training and skill acquisition programme for host communities are the most effective man power development strategy.

Human–Wildlife Conflict (HWC) has become a fundamental aspect of wildlife management, but it threatens both wildlife and human welfare. Agriculture is an important sector for achieving food security, creating employment, and driving economic growth, as well as supplying raw materials for agro-based industries. However, households (HH) around Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP) experienced challenges, such as Human-Wildlife Conflict, which could undermine wildlife conservation efforts and agricultural productivity. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions. Multi stage sampling procedure was employed in this study. In the first stage, all the communities adjacent to KLNP were stratified by distance into three groups: A (≤3 km), B (3-6 km), and C (>6 km). In the second stage, 23 out of 36 communities were purposely selected based on accessibility. In the third stage, 322 households (out of 1,060) were selected proportionate to size. Results of this study revealed that the majority (62.3%) had 21-30 livestock per HH and experienced a loss of 11-20 animals per annum. The number of farms affected by HWC varied significantly across communities: A (5±1.13), B (3±1.02), and C (2±0.03). These conflicts, often involving livestock depredation and crop damage, negatively affect the economic and social well-being of local communities. Annual financial losses due to crop raiding and livestock depredation per household were ₦60,987.40k and ₦50,891.80k; ₦45,807.47k and ₦40,689.12k; ₦30,692.63k and ₦20,463.32k, in the A, B, and C communities, respectively. This implies that HWC reduced with increasing distance from the park’s boundary. A positive association exist between annual financial loss due to crop raiding and household annual income χ2 (2, N=322) = 47.07, p < 0.05, financial loss due to livestock depredation and household annual income χ2(2, N=322) = 24.89, p < 0.05, number of livestock loss per annum and households’ total Livestock holding χ2(2, N=322) = 12.43, p < 0.05. This study established that HWC can undermine wildlife conservation efforts in KLNP as people retaliate against wildlife for perceived losses, sometimes through illegal hunting and habitat destruction.

Human-wildlife conflict and community perceptions towards wildlife conservation in and around a biodiverse National Park, northern Ethiopia

Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP) was the first National Park to be established among the eight that are currently present in Nigeria. The Park covers an area of 5,340.82 km2 and is comprised of two sectors, Borgu and Zugurma. This study revealed that KLNP harbours diverse flora, fauna, hydrological, cultural and human resources. The estimated fauna density noted that Baboon, Patas monkey, Green monkey, Lion, Buffalo, Grimm's Duiker, Elephant, Warthog, and Redflanked Duiker are the major representative species. The establishment of KLNP in 1976 marked the first attempt at managing wildlife for recreation in Nigeria. The Park originally started as Borgu and Zugurma Game Reserves, which were endowed with considerable hydrological resources mainly from Kainji Lake and the Oli River. A survey of the KLNP shows that the abundant vegetative, edaphic (plant communities distinguished by soil conditions), hydrological and animal resources in the area have been influenced by the local population which has been growing considerably since the impoundment of the lake. From available records on fauna, carnivores have the highest number of species in the park, with the least mammalian orders being represented by Hyrocoida, Sirena, Rubuliduntata, Pholidata and Lagomorpha. The elephant population is conspicuously absent. Primate distribution is limited to Kali hill and the Tungan Giwa area of the park. Estimates of the fauna population in the Borgu sector show a decline due to heavy poaching. An avian population of about 420 species in 56 families was observed in the Borgu sector. The survey showed 118 species of fish belonging to 23 families. Plant diversity records indicate about 164 species of dicots and 110 species of monocot plants. To sustain the park, a management plan has been commissioned by the Park Management authority. Policies are included to reduce conflict between park management and host communities and to improve the livelihood of the native rural dwellers through their participation in the park management.

To conserve a resource without having adequate data and finance is difficult and frustrating. The situation of wildlife in Nigeria is nevertheless different. Except in the Yankari, Upper Ogun, and Kwiabaha, Game Reserves, and the Kainji Lake National Park, little efforts have been made to protect the Nigerian animal wildlife resources from human pressure and widespread extinction. To many, what remains of the wild animals are best seen in the few state-owned zoological gardens in Nigeria. However, because most indigenous large animal species—including Elephant, Buffalo, Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Rhinoceros, Leopard, and Ostrich—have not been able to reproduce in the various zoological gardens so far, the hope to conserve these animals is brittle. The questions are, what factors are working against wildlife conservation? Indeed, what hopes exist for Nigerian animal wildlife?Animal wildlife is a declining resource in Nigeria because of unplanned land-use practices. For example, landuses in game reserves are often conflicting and contradictory. Four land-uses: timber extraction, hunting, food-crop production, and settlement, are simultaneously going on in game reserves, with little or no control measures and with no management plans. The excessive demands for land for these conflicting uses have greatly disturbed the ecosystems involved, thus making the survival of the wild animals uncertain. Specifically, the problems of wildlife conservation in Nigeria are: (a) poaching; (b) indiscriminate burning of the vegetation; (c) uncontrolled grazing activities in the reserves; (d) intensive logging for domestic and industrial uses; (e) user rights on the reserves enjoyed by the traditional owners of the land before reservation; (f) lack of adequate funds to manage the reserves; (g) ineffective legislation; (h) lack of trained manpower; (i) urban sprawl; and (j) infrastructural development of roads, electric and telegraph lines, and irrigation schemes, all within the game reserves.The future for Nigerian animal wildlife depends on the nation's ability to conserve what is left either in their natural habitat or, at least, in zoological gardens. The task is not simple under conditions of economic depression, with inadequate manpower and without effective management of game reserves. In these circumstances, the game reserves should be reduced to manageable numbers, while state governments should win public sympathy through adequate conservation publicity and the provision of sufficient vehicles and personnel to manage the game reserves.The policy of land-use in game reserves should be reviewed, while researches should be conducted on (a) the levels of land-use that could be consistent with maintaining wild animals in the reserves, (b) the number and species of animals hunted per year, (c) the population of animal species in the game reserves and their habitat suitability, (d) the endangered and extinct animal species and specific reasons for the decline in their populations, and (e) human problems peculiar to each reserve and ways of minimizing them.

Irrespective of consistent environmental awareness created by different conservation institutions in Nigeria the level of environmental degradation has remained on the increase. There is therefore an urgent need to investigate the effectiveness of the strategies used for both environmental education, and the development of the environmental educators. Assessment of Environmental Education and Manpower development strategies in Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP) was therefore conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of the strategies; and factors militating against effective environmental education in the park. Data for this study were obtained through personal observations, administrative record, three sets of structured questionnaires and in depth interview with experienced members of staff and knowledgeable indigenes of host communities. A set of questionnaire was administered to thirty percent of staff in the park. The second set was randomly administered to thirty percent of household representatives in ten easily accessible communities bordering the park, while the third was administered to 59% of all students of the Department of Forestry, University of Port Harcourt who visited KLNP for industrial attachment. In all 100 staff members, 403 household representatives and 42 students were sampled. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics in the form of percentages and frequencies. Environmental education level was rated high in KLNP by staff (82.00%) and student (83.00%) respondents. Strategies of environmental education in the park were listed as industrial attachment (IT)(25.0%), mass media (18.00%), seminars (18.00%), hand bills / fliers (14.00%) and workshop (12.00%) and excursions. As a tool for man power development, Industrial Training (I.T) was rated very effective by staff (79.80%), and student (69.00%) respondents. Also rated effective by staff respondents were In – service training (79.80%) and workshop (67.10%). Majority of the student respondents rated I.T very effective as a man power development strategy. A total of 482 students from 19 higher institutions across different geopolitical zones of Nigeria have participated in I.T. of KLNP between 1979 and 2005, while a total of 22,894 students from different states of Nigeria have visited KLNP in form of excursion, with the highest participation experienced in 1998 (2,591). Also 158 workers of KLNP have participated in different forms of staff empowerment programme between 2004 and 2009, with the highest participation recorded in 2008 (78,48%). More so, 220 staff of KLNP have participated in In – service training between 2000 and 2010. Problems militating against effective environmental education and manpower development in the park were inadequate funding (85%) and low educational level of community dwellers (33.00%).Students’ industrial attachment is the most effective strategy of man power development in KLNP that can have national spread and sustainable impact, while students’ excursion is an effective strategy of also having a sustainable environmental education that spreads across the country. But, at local level, focus discussion and use of radio are the most effective environmental awareness strategy among communities bordering the park, while in – service training and skill acquisition programme for host communities are the most effective man power development strategy.

Land encroachment is severely degrading and destroying many of Nigerian protected area as a result of high population pressure caused by high population growth and immigrations trends. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing human settlement encroachment in Kainji Lake National Park in order to established the extent to which this threat have been upheld and therefore call for park management to seek for proper approaches to deal with it. Data for this study were collected through the administration of questionnaire to the villages adjacent to Borgu sector of Kainji Lake National Park. Seven (7) randomly selected villages, namely Luma, Kuble, Audu Fari, Kali, Malale, Leshegbe and Gada Oli were surveyed. The result indicates gender of respondents where 65.09% of the responses were received from males while 34.91% from females suggesting that responses are the views from both gender parties who are mostly (33.96%) within the age range of 31–40 years and are predominantly farmer (43.42%). 88% of the respondents’ indicated that increased need of land for developments are the major causes of encroachment around the park while other human activities such as farming, deforestation and grazing of domesticated animals, by encroaching to protected areas have led into competition over natural resources. It is also established by 92% of the respondents agree that migration of people for livelihood support has led to increased competition between people and wildlife hence, this increase in population has consequently led to encroachment into the park as attested by a whopping 100% of the respondents. Kainji Lake National Park management need to do more in sensitizing the local communities on importance of wildlife conservation as most (54%) locals disagreed to awareness of conservation education and engages in intense vigilance against encroachment into the park land.

Evaluating conservation policy: integrated conservation and development in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

The study examines the perception of rural women on bushmeat trade around Kainji Lake National Park in Niger state, Nigeria. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 rural women living around kainji lake national park in Niger state. Data were collected through a well-structured interview schedule and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, 5 points Likert-type scale and chisquare. The result of the study revealed that majority (69.2%) of the rural women were married with large household sizes, 70.3% were in their middle age and 67.1% had just basic education. Also, majority (95.0%) of them had long years of working experience with low average monthly income less than U S $61. Moreover, they perceived benefits of trading in bush meat to include high return (1st), raising social status (2nd), and cheap access to animal protein (3rd). The study revealed further that respondents’ perceived knowledge were very high (2.5-3.0) on hunting and trading of bushmeat as not being a good livelihood activity, high (1.9-2.4) on unregulated hunting and trading of wild species as a factor that can destroy the environment while other opinions such as eating any wild animal meat be it endangered or not, extinction of wild species not contributing to disequilibrium of biodiversity, etc were rated low (1.3-1.8). There were significant relationship between education and years of working experience with respondents’ perception on bushmeat trade while age, household size, marital status and average monthly income were not significant. The perception exhibited by the rural women which was believed to be highly beneficial as a result of their generally low knowledge on the implication of the trade on biodiversity could encourage participation in bushmeat trade. Based on the findings, massive enlightenment campaigns need to be embarked upon by both governmental and non-governmental organizations to change their mindset on the implication of bushmeat trade.Key Words: Perception, Bushmeat, Rural Women, Trade, National Park

This study assessed the biodiversity laws and policies in Protected Areas, using Cross River Na- tional Park, Kainji Lake National Park and Old Oyo National in Nigeria as case study. The problems emanating from such policies and legislation were identified and integrated approach in the conservation of the nation’s biodiversity was investigated. The results revealed that the present law (Decree 46 of 1999) operating to conserve wildlife resources in the Protected Areas is weak and endangered species Decree of 1985 have limited ope- rational coverage. The rate of arrest and aggregate of fine in Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP) increased from 172 people arrested in 1991 to 229 people in 2001, with aggregate increase in fine from N31,800 to N1.5million. In Old Oyo National Park (OONP) there was no record of arrest in 1991 until the year 1998 when the rate of arrest increased to peak (65 people) with ag- gregate fine of N74,300. Cross River National Park (CRNP) also witnessed no rate of arrest until 1994 when 3 offenders were first recorded. The implementation of the decree in area of appre- hension of offenders is totally weak in CRNP. The response of local people towards government policies in CRNP was poor in all the highlighted conditions except for tourism possibilities and International Organization assistance. While in other two National Parks (KLNP and OONP), the respondents supported conditions and policies implementation. In general, the people response towards government policies in all the study areas was significant (P<0,01). It was concluded that the protection staff should be more enhanced and various facilities needed should be considered for their live insurance. Encouragement should be given to community participation, traditional practices, customs, and taboos that are in consonance with the ethics of conservation.

In African countries, crop-raiding by wild animals and human-wildlife conflicts are recurrent and common concerns for conservationists, protected areas managers and surrounding populations. At different levels, these challenges hinder the achievement of conservation goals. Although researchers have widely studied human-wildlife conflicts in Nyungwe National Park, few have examined its impact and lived experiences of local communities who are regularly facing crop-raiding by wild animals. The present study conducted in areas adjacent to the park including those affected with a high rate of crop raiding aimed to assess: (1) the community perceptions on human-wildlife conflicts and (2) the community perceptions on the compensation schemes set up to minimize the conflicts. For this purpose, a qualitative method was adopted. It relied on field semi-structured interviews with the representatives of conservation key stakeholders including local communities that experienced crop raiding. On one hand, the findings indicated that communities affected by generalized crop raiding are complaining about socio-economic and livelihood losses, food insecurity and injury. On the other hand, they showed that affected communities are not satisfied with the compensation scheme. Difficult requirements for compensation, complicated compensation procedure, rejection of compensation claims, undervalued payment and irregular compensation and delay of payments were identified as key problems that keep human-wildlife conflicts at high levels. The compensation process is so slow, so long and so costly that the victims of crop raiding abandon compensation claims. As a result, local communities continue to deal with self-defense since monetary compensation is unable to decrease the level of crop raiding. The findings call for an improved compensation scheme for reduced human-wildlife conflicts and efficient management following the model of effective compensation. Even though fencing the Park could be expensive, it would be a viable option to minimize wild-animals escape from the park. In addition, enhancing collective guiding system was proposed by the local community as their innovative strategy that could reduce crop raiding.

Wildlife conservation in Luangwa Valley depends on perception by local communities, and is affected by wildlife crop raiding. Perception of local farmers were elucidated between 2006/7 and 2008/9 farming seasons. Data collection was done using prescribed forms and semi-structured questionnaires by trained field assistants. The case study findings confirm that firstly, perceived and actual crop losses differed by 49.49 and 7.78% for mono-specific stands of maize and cotton, respectively. Secondly, opportunity costs incurred and perceived by local farmers were higher than direct costs. Most farmers (79.83%, n = 95) associated opportunity costs of wildlife crop damage with loss of sleep and loss of time for other chores, when providing crop protection. Thirdly, conservation objectives and local farmers’ needs and aspirations were antithetical. Majority of local farmers (82.59%, n = 204) expanded or segregated crop fields, thereby degrading wildlife habitats. Ensuing negative perception posed high risks to wildlife conservation in Luangwa Valley. Incentivising performance conservation payments to local farmers are recommended, to increase their tolerance levels while incurring costs of living with wildlife. Implementation of improved environmental education and awareness creation, coupled with capacity building through appropriate trainings and facilitated infrastructure in resolving human-wildlife conflicts are critical. Key words: Wildlife crop raiding, contingent valuation, opportunity costs, conservation, Luangwa Valley.