There are several national parks of Nigeria. The Nigeria National Park Service (NNPS) is responsible for preserving, enhancing, protecting and managing vegetation and wild animals in the national parks of

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 NNPS is a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of the Environment, and is headed by a Conservator General. It works closely with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation. The first national park was

Kainji Lake Kainji Lake, in North Central Nigeria, is a reservoir on the Niger River, formed by the Kainji Dam. It was formed in 1968 and is a part of Niger State and Kebbi State. Kainji Lake National Park (KNLP), situated around the lake, is Nigeria's oldes ...

, established by the military ruler General

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

in 1979. The National Parks Governing Board and five new National Parks were set up in 1991. Yankari Game Reserve was upgraded to a national park in 1992, although it was later handed over to the Bauchi State government in June 2006. The parks cover a total land area of approximately 20,156 km², or about 3% of Nigeria's total land area.

Parks

References

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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 ...