The vulture, a large, carnivorous bird that is most well known for its scavenging nature, caught the attention of the Nigerian nature conservation community last week in Lagos, where stakeholders reiterated their commitment to the upkeep of the endangered bird of prey.

At the 15th Chief S. L. Edu Memorial Lecture held on Thursday, 19 January 2017 at the instance of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Minister of Environment and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Designate, Amina Mohammed, while describing the vulture as nature’s most effective garbage disposal system, however lamented that vulture species are critically endangered.

In a presentation titled “Last Nigeria vulture: The consequences for health and the economy,” the minister, as guest speaker, estimates that a single vulture provides a scavenging benefit worth around $11,600 per year, adding Avian scavengers are capable of removing a thousand tons of carcasses per year.

Her words: “Without vultures to efficiently remove large amounts of decayed meat, both air and ground water would show increased contamination. Hence vultures are for want of a better word often referred to as our ‘sanitation officers’. The link between vultures and human health and their ecological and economic role (such as through eco-tourism), conservation of African vultures will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goals 2, 12, and 15 and The Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12 and 14.”

According to her, there are 11 species of vulture in Africa and seven of these are on the edge of extinction. Four, she adds, are now on the critically endangered list while another three are endangered.

In Nigeria, there were formerly six species of vultures, known as Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes manachus), African white-backed (Gyps africanus), White-headed (Trigonoceps occipitalis), Ruppell’s griffoo (Gyps rueppellii) and Palm-nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis). Out of these, five species are close to extinction in some parts of the country, she discloses, adding that the only two thriving species are Hooded and Palm-nut Vultures and they are being threatened by loss of habitat and indiscriminate hunting.

“The threat facing vultures are diverse and challenging. Africa continues to have the highest global rate of primary forest loss. Therefore, habitat loss degradation poses some levels of threat to vultures,” she says, listing challenges faced by the vulture to include:

• Vultures are being hunted and killed as a result of targeted poisoning of carnivores using baited carcasses often in response to predation of livestock.
• Elephant or Rhino poachers who deliberately poison vultures, which draw attention to poaching activities, or vultures may ingest poison used to kill the elephants.
• Vultures often suffer mortality caused by collision with or electrocution by power generation and transmission infrastructure such as power lines and wind turbines.
• Vultures are also used as traditional medicine. The feathers and head are used for ritualistic purposes and export to countries around the globe.
• Vultures are also delicacy to some communities. They often serve as alternative to chicken in some parts of Nigeria.
• Nigeria’s population has more than doubled in the last 50 years. This has caused land to become stressed with habitat under threat further exacerbating the future of birdlife.

The minister suggests that improved partnerships which cut across public and private sector will be key to putting a stop to making vultures a thing of history. She believes that collaboration with state governments and supporting the preservation and repopulation of vultures is important as well as encouraging states and local governments to own the conservation agenda by underscoring the economic and health gains is vital to achieving the desired goal.

Private sector investment in vultures, she insists, should not be overlooked. According to her, investing in the conservation of the vulture and other endangered species will support a better ecosystem and provide new economic opportunities in eco-tourism.

“The National Domesticated Reviewed Endangered Species Act, (CITES) signed on the 30th of December 2016 by the President is a clear example of government’s commitment to protecting endangered species. Hooded vulture is listed in schedule II,” she contends, adding that, in addition to strengthening regulatory frameworks, Nigeria is signatory to a few Conventions such as Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Ramsar Convention of Conservation of Wetlands International, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), and has thus adopted the Africa-Eurasian Migratory Landbirds Action Plan (AEMLAP).

She ponts out that the 2016 United Nations Environment Assembly led to the implementation of a new resolution on wildlife crime and trade, implying that African governments can now act to prevent the poisoning of vultures.

Chief Ede Dafinone, Chairman, National Executive Council of the NCF, states that the has been carefully selected because of the danger posed by the declining population of vultures.

“This situation is scary since it could lead to a major human disaster if solutions are not provided on time. This issue, though universal, must have national actions to reverse the trend as some nations all over the world are already acting, and Nigeria must not be left behind. The good news is that, we are still alive, so I believe the disaster could be avoided once we promptly take the necessary actions,” he says, adding:

“As NCF, we have recognised the danger and we are willing to deploy all within our means to fight for the protection of vultures. We are open to collaboration both with the Ministry of Environment and other stakeholders to ensure the survival of vultures in our environment.

In implementing our advocacy programmes, we would deploy all available mechanism, and partner with willing organisations and individuals. Our doors are always open for collaboration, hence a clarion call to all meaningful Nigerians, both corporate and otherwise, to support this cause.”

Mr Adeniji Karunwi, Director General of the NCF, reveals that, over the years, the NCF recognised the dangerous trend of declining population of vultures, a development he discloses led NCF, the BirdLife Partner in Nigeria, into collaborating with both local and international partners, notably BirdLife International, to bring the plight of vultures into global focus. “This has resulted into more awareness about vultures and their importance in the ecosystem,” he adds.

“Locally, we have developed a ‘National Vulture Advocacy Plan’, which we are hoping the Federal Ministry of Environment will partner with us to launch and will drive all plans into action. This well-articulated advocacy plan cuts across different aspects that will help bring the plight of Nigerian vultures into the public space for discussion to further promote their conservation.”

He notes that the occasion of the lecture also serves as the platform for the presentation of awards to the two grantees of the Chief S. L. Edu Memorial Research Grant for PhD studies. The two winning proposals, Karunwi stresses, were chosen out of 37 research proposals received from all the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

“With this year’s award, Chevron Nigeria Limited has sponsored, without break, the Research Grant for 15 years, thereby tremendously strengthening research in biodiversity conservation in Nigeria by building the capacity of young conservation professionals. I want to specially acknowledge Chevron Nigeria Limited, a company that has shown its great support for NCF’s conservation activities over the years.”

Mr. Esimaje Brikinn, General Manager Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria Limited, describes the topic of the lecture as very apt as, according to him, it captures the interdependent relationship between a scavenging species in the natural habitat and human health plus economy.

His words: “As we all know, Health and the Economy are two areas that are very essential to the survival of the human race. Without a healthy society, humanity will gradually walk into extinction; and without a good economy the survival of the human race is laden with questions. Yet these two – health and economy – are dependent on nature. Healthy businesses lead to healthy economies and healthy businesses are built on healthy people.

“Businesses are built on resources that have been provided by nature, and most of the things needed to maintain a healthy life is sourced from the same nature. It is this understanding that drives our business operations at Chevron. We seek to preserve nature in its fullest as we do business. We believe in sustainable development.

“We continuously evaluate and strive to improve our processes to ensure a healthy and sustainable environment. Our Environmental Stewardship Process aids in identifying, assessing and managing environmental concerns in a manner that ensures the protection of human health and nature. We believe in the global initiatives against climate change; in this regard, we have developed and have started implementing a strategy towards eliminating flared gas. We are firmly committed to this resolve. We also believe research is important in our quest to sustain and preserve this beautiful world we live in.”

In what looks like a game changer for elephant conservation, China has announced plans to end domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017. With this decision, the country aims to reduce demand for elephant ivory and help end the global elephant poaching crisis.

The international nature conservation community is celebrating what appears to be another big win for elephant conservation with China’s game-changing decision to end domestic ivory trade by 2017. The new regulations come as part of the government’s efforts to reduce demand for elephant ivory and help end the global elephant poaching crisis.

“China’s announcement is a game changer for elephant conservation,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. “The large-scale trade of ivory now faces its twilight years, and the future is brighter for wild elephants. With the US also ending its domestic ivory trade earlier this year, two of the largest ivory markets have taken action that will reverberate around the world.”

Last September, President Barack Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping made a joint commitment to impose near-total elephant ivory bans in their countries. The US finalised new regulations in June that will help shut down commercial elephant ivory trade within its borders and stop wildlife crime overseas.

China and the US are two of the world’s biggest consumer markets for wildlife products. Their historic decision to phase out commercial elephant ivory trade in both countries is a monumental step that few would have predicted a year ago.

The decision helped shape discussions at the world’s most important wildlife trade conference which took place in South Africa this past September. Representatives from 182 Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) gathered to discuss critical trade issues impacting species under threat, including a proposal to end all commercial domestic elephant ivory markets. In 2013, China and 18 other Asian and African countries were asked to develop and put into effect National Ivory Action Plans to address the poaching crisis.

Poachers kill between 20,000 and 30,000 African elephants each year for their tusks, primarily to satisfy the demand for ivory products in Asia, where China is a key part of this trade. The epidemic threatens Asian elephants as well, but on a smaller scale.

Now that two of the world’s largest domestic ivory markets – the US and China – have shown great leadership in taking significant stands towards elephant conservation, it is WWF’s hope that other consumer markets follow suit.

A recently published study by WWF and TRAFFIC says that an ivory trade ban in China is feasible and could help reduce current threats to African elephants. Creating that ban could set an example for and influence other countries to tackle the illegal ivory trade.

“We’d like to see China continue its efforts to reduce demand for ivory; raise public awareness about wildlife crime; and work with other governments, conservation organisations, the private sector and local communities to help end the illegal ivory trade – and give elephants a future free from poaching,” said Roberts.