By Bunmi Yekini
Nigeria’s leading conservation organisation has urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently sign into law a bill aimed at strengthening protection for endangered wildlife, warning that accelerating biodiversity loss is undermining ecosystems, livelihoods and national development.
The Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) said the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill 2025, already passed by the National Assembly, is critical to curbing illegal wildlife trade and improving enforcement against environmental crimes.
In a statement marking this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, the group warned that Nigeria’s forests, wetlands and coastal ecosystems are deteriorating rapidly under pressure from deforestation, habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation and climate change.
Nigeria, one of Africa’s most biodiverse countries, is home to thousands of plant and animal species across rainforests, savannas, freshwater swamps and marine habitats. But conservation experts estimate that more than 90% of its original forest cover has already been lost, placing many species at increasing risk of extinction.
Joseph Onoja, director-general of the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, said biodiversity loss had moved beyond an environmental concern to a national development emergency.
“Biodiversity loss is not an abstract global problem. It is happening in our forests, wetlands, and communities, and it affects food security, water, health, and livelihoods,” the foundation said, adding that global frameworks and national strategies must now be matched with implementation.
The group pointed to Nigeria’s revised National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), aligned with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which commits the country to halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and protecting at least 30% of land and marine areas.
However, it warned that conservation efforts remain underfunded and poorly integrated into economic planning, limiting progress toward those targets.
“Despite increasing research and awareness, biodiversity efforts in Nigeria remain underfunded and poorly integrated into economic planning,” the NCF said.
The foundation also pledged to expand collaboration with communities, government agencies and the private sector over the next five years to restore degraded ecosystems, strengthen enforcement against illegal wildlife trade and improve biodiversity monitoring.
It urged Nigerians to reject illegal wildlife consumption and the “glorification of animal cruelty” on social media, calling for more sustainable consumption habits.
The appeal comes as global leaders mark International Day for Biological Diversity, observed annually on May 22.
In a parallel message, the Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, said biodiversity is “the foundation of life on Earth” and central to climate resilience, sustainable development and economic prosperity.
He said the 2026 theme, “Acting locally for global impact,” underscores that global biodiversity targets can only be achieved through local action.
“Global biodiversity goals can only be achieved through concrete action on the ground,” he said, highlighting the role of UNESCO-designated sites as “living laboratories” for conservation.
He noted that UNESCO sites collectively span more than 13 million square kilometres and support the livelihoods of around 900 million people, while hosting a significant share of the world’s threatened species.
Despite rising environmental pressures, he said monitored wildlife populations within many protected sites have remained relatively stable, showing that conservation works when backed by science, local participation and sustained investment.
“This sends a powerful message of hope,” the UNESCO statement said, calling for stronger cooperation between governments, scientists, Indigenous communities and donors to scale up biodiversity protection efforts worldwide.
Nigeria’s conservation community says such global momentum reinforces the urgency of domestic legal reforms, particularly as environmental degradation continues to intensify across Africa’s most populous nation.