WWF's Approved Projects
in Nigeria

WWF in Nigeria

Life in Gashaka Gumti National Park

Lagos, Nigeria-Since 1992, Andrew Dunn, 32, has been living in the tiny village of Gashaka, close to Nigeria's northeastern border with Cameroon. The tall, mild-mannered British biologist, who originally did primate and large-mammal research in the area, is now working on a management plan for Nigeria's youngest park.

Gashaka Gumti National Park, covering more than 6,000 km2, is home to Nigeria's tallest mountain, Mount Gangirwal. The surrounding Fulani communities call it the "mountain of death" because it is so high and steep. Besides its impressive highlands of rolling grasslands and montane forest (Africa's rarest and most threatened habitat) ranging in altitude from 1,800 to 2,200 metres, the park also has savannah woodlands and tropical forests. The park not only has very rich plant and animal life (including about 2,000 chimpanzees) - it is also the source of the River Benue, Nigeria's second-largest river.

July is rainy season in Gashaka Gumti, and the going is tough. From the project base camp in Gashaka village, Dunn has to risk steep, slippery roads with old four-wheel-drive vehicles and brave two rivers by canoe to get to the nearest road. From there it's another seven-hour journey to the closest airport. A couple of weeks ago, a rain-swollen river swept away a game guard. Dunn dove in to rescue him. The strong current sucked him down and he was almost drowned in the terrified guard's grip. Fortunately they were swept downstream to a clearing where they clutched on to river bank vegetation and made it to safety.

Working with the Fulani

For the past year, Dunn has worked alongside Nigerian project manager Faith Ananze and national park staff to devise a way of incorporating close to 2,000 Fulani cattle herdsmen and their 10,000 cattle into the park management plan. The Fulani have resided in the area since well before the park was created. Now they live in seven enclaves within the park, most at high altitudes of over 2,000 metres, out of reach of tsetse flies and where the grazing is good and water plentiful.

The Fulani are happy to be integrated in to conservation activities, although there is no official government legislation addressing the needs and rights of people living within parks. So this is a new area to be tackled by conservationists in Nigeria.

Besides assisting the national parks authorities by supplying camping equipment and park surveillance and management training, Dunn's project (supported by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, WWF, the British Overseas Development Agency, and the European Union) also focuses on rural development. So far a health clinic is almost completed, two schools have been built, and a human/animal conflict programme is being developed to provide relief to farmers whose land is razed by baboons and green monkeys.

Dunn speaks with a sense of enchantment about the area's spectacular scenery. "When I sit in front of my house writing reports, I look out over a spectacular valley with a river running through it," he says. "It is so beautiful and peaceful, I am often reluctant to put on my small generator because I don't want to disturb Gashaka's serenity."

And he's had more than a few adventures. He recalls a memorable experience during a biological inventory: "One day, as we were cutting our way through the bush in my study area, we surprised a group of grown chimps. Not being habituated to humans, the chimps became very agitated and chased us down the hill. It was terrifying, as a grown chimp has the strength of three men and can easily tear someone apart."

For the next three years, two doctorate students from England and the US are continuing chimp research in the park, while other Nigerian and international researchers are focusing on botanical surveys, traditional Fulani ethno-veterinary medicine, vegetation changes due to livestock grazing, ethnobotanical research, the use of non-timber forest products, as well as continuing surveys of large mammals.

By Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, WWF Africa Communications Officer


Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature