The Nigerian Conservation Foundation is an environmental

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

which works to preserve the natural resources and

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The Foundation was founded in 1980 by

Shafi Edu Chief Shafi Lawal Edu (1911–2002), popularly known as S.L. Edu, was a Nigerian businessman and conservationist from Epe, Lagos State. He founded the Nigerian conservation fund, a non-governmental organization involved in conservation projec ...

and has worked since then on a number of

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or i ...

and conservation projects across Nigeria. Chief Ede Dafinone is the current Chairman of the Foundation and Dr. Muhtari Aminu-Kano is the Director-General. One of the founders was

Akintola Williams Chief Akintola Williams (born 9 August 1919) is a Nigerian accountant. He was the first Nigerian to qualify as a chartered accountant. He began his education at Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, Bankole street, Apongbon, Lagos Island, Lag ...

. The Akintola Williams Arboretum at the Nigerian Conservation Foundation

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

is named in his honor.The Foundation is involved in conservation efforts on a number of fronts. It engages in

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

work both at the national and state levels. It also has a number of educational

initiatives In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

both to raise awareness of

environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

in Nigeria and to encourage sustainable practices. It works with higher education, primary and secondary schools, and with the general public through local initiatives in target areas. Its scientific staff is engaged in research and management plans in reserves, parks, and wildlife habitats across the country. It also advises industries on

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

and environmental impacts for their projects in

. The foundation also promotes environmental tourism with the goal of expanding awareness of Nigeria's natural resources and also creating economic

incentives In general, incentives are anything that persuade a person to alter their behaviour. It is emphasised that incentives matter by the basic law of economists and the laws of behaviour, which state that higher incentives amount to greater levels of ...

for continued and expanded preservation. The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has called on all Nigerians to take very useful urgent actions in conserving the remaining species of the

Pangolin Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smut ...

and it seeks help of all concerned Nigerians in creating huge awareness about the need for pangolin conservation. The NCF has partnerships with a number of international environmental groups including the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

Wetlands International Wetlands International is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from ...

Fauna and Flora International Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is an international conservation charity and non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the planet's threatened wildlife and habitats. Founded in 1903, it is the world's oldest international conserva ...

, and the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...

. It has also partnered with several industry groups including

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

and

BG Group BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory and ...

on issues involving Nigeria's growing

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

. The NCF established

Lekki Conservation Centre Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC) is a Natural Resource Conservation in Lekki, Lagos State Nigeria. History The Centre was established in 1990 to serve as biodiversity conservation icon and environment education centre. The facility wa ...

in 1990 which houses the National Secretariat of the foundation while their regional office is in Calabar,

Cross River state ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

in Nigeria. In 1992, the National conservation Foundation was recognized by the UN Environmental Program, which added it to its

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNEP ...

, a group of individuals and organizations making important contributions to the environment. According to

Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

Score Card, "NCF is regarded as one of the best environmental NGOs in the country. Currently, they have projects in 9 different states ranging from the Participatory Forest Management Project in

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

to Management of Becheve Nature Reserve,

Obudu Cattle Ranch Obudu Mountain Resort (formerly known as the Obudu Cattle Ranch) is a ranch and resort on the Obudu Plateau in Cross River State, Nigeria. History It was developed in 1951 by M. McCaughley, McCaughley who first explored the mountain ranges in 1 ...

, Obudu, Cross River State . Their best practice climate project would have to be the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) in Edo state."

Centres

* Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC) * Becheve Nature Reserve *

Finima Nature Park The Finima Nature Park is a natural park in Bonny Island, Rivers State, Nigeria covering an area of approximately 1000 ha (3.9 sq mi). It was established by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited with the aim of conserving nature and biodiversi ...

* Abuja Conservation Centre.

Organisational Structure

The Organisational Structure of the Foundation is made up of the Board of Trustrees (BOT) headed by a President and the National Executive Council, headed by a Chairman. The current President of the Board of Turstees is Izoma Philip Asiodu CFR, CON while the Chairman of the National Executive Council is Chief Ede Dafinone.

Achievements

* The foundation in 1984 assisted in developing National Conservation Strategy. * In 1985, due to the support they gave the government, the Endangered Species Decree was enacted. * Also, in 1990, the

was established by the Foundation. * They founded the Hadejia-Nguru wetland Conservation project in 1992. * NCF has influenced the establishment of FEPA (Federal Environment Protection Agency) * Management of Okomu games before it became a national park.

Projects

Some of the previous projects of NCF include: 1. Afi mountain reserve and Gashaka Gumti NP both aiming at conservation of

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

and elimination of

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

among local people. 2.

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

save Zone : The project was carried out to ensure the protection of vulture in the two vulture states; Anambra and Enugu with the training of 38 individual at awgu Local government area of

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...

and 13 from Awka entity at

Anambra Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi Stat ...

. Upcoming projects The coordinator of NCF Green recovery Nigeria ,Folake salawu has announced the creation of additional reserves in different area by partnering with

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

in the country. The location of the reserves will be determined by the stakeholders in the six

geo-political zones Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

as part of green recovery plan just after

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

has allocated space for the intending reserves. Also, the

Kwara state Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

government is planning to plant 2.5 million trees by 2047 in partnership with NCF in order to fight loss of

trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

in the state, the project is to involve about 100 communities.

References

External links

{{cite web, url=http://www.ncfnigeria.org/, title=Nigerian Conservation Foundation
NCF Facebook page
Environmental organizations based in Nigeria Organizations based in Lagos Environmental organizations established in 1980 1980 establishments in Nigeria