International Biodiversity Day: Experts Push For Grassroots Conservation To Protect Nigeria’s Ecosystems

AFOLABI SAHEED OLAWALE

As the world marked the 2026 International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, environmental advocates, journalists and conservation experts called for urgent action to protect Nigeria’s biodiversity through local engagement, indigenous knowledge and visual storytelling.

The advocates made the call during a discussion, convened by a conservation organisation, Wild Africa, which focused on the need to document Nigeria’s rich but underrepresented wildlife and ecosystems using photography and media storytelling to inspire conservation efforts.

Speaking during the discussion, environmental advocate Oluwasooto Ajayi said Nigeria possesses enormous biodiversity that remains largely undocumented compared to other African countries known for wildlife tourism and conservation imagery.

Ajayi, who has worked with the World Economic Forum’s ocean team and Business for Nature, revealed that she is currently leading the Nigeria Nature Photography Awards initiative in partnership with Wild Africa and other organisations.

According to Ajayi, the initiative seeks to use photography and storytelling to preserve Nigeria’s ecological heritage while encouraging public appreciation for nature.

“People cannot value or protect what they do not see,” Ajayi said, stressing the importance of visual documentation in promoting environmental awareness.

The Nigeria Representative for Wild Africa, Festus Iyorah, noted that the International Day for Biological Diversity presents an opportunity to highlight the urgent need to preserve Nigeria’s ecosystems and wildlife, including endangered species such as elephants.

Speaking further, Ajayi said that biodiversity goes beyond wildlife alone, describing it as the combination of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity.

She noted that Nigeria is home to more than 5,000 recorded species and diverse ecosystems ranging from wetlands and mangroves to forests and savannas.

According to the conservation advocate, these ecosystems provide critical services including pollination, soil fertility, environmental cooling and flood control.

Ajayi argued that many Nigerians often overlook the role nature plays in their daily survival.

“Trees absorb pollutants, bees pollinate crops, and mangroves reduce flooding. Nature is part of our everyday existence even when people do not immediately recognise it,” Ajayi said.

Participants, who examined the connection between biodiversity, food security and livelihoods, raised concerns over the environmental effects of practices such as bush burning and pesticide use on agriculture and ecosystems in Nigeria.

In response, Ajayi maintained that farmers and fishers possess deep indigenous knowledge about environmental changes and should not be excluded from conservation discussions.

Citing examples such as local communities observing the impact of oil spills on water bodies and desertification on farming activities, Ajayi warned against imposing conservation approaches that alienate rural communities struggling to survive economically.

With the 2026 biodiversity day theme centred on “Acting Locally for Global Impact,” Ajayi said local conservation efforts in Nigeria could contribute to broader international environmental goals, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals.

On youth engagement, participants questioned how environmental awareness could be promoted among younger Nigerians.

Ajayi said that sustainability efforts must involve schools, researchers, governments and the private sector while ensuring that local farmers are not treated as enemies of conservation.

The environmental advocate further encouraged Nigerians to pay closer attention to the plants, birds and natural resources around them, noting that documenting biodiversity could also unlock economic opportunities such as bioprospecting and nature-based industries.

On whether Nigerians have become disconnected from wildlife conservation, Ajayi argued that despite increasing urbanisation, many indigenous communities still possess extensive environmental knowledge embedded in local languages and agricultural traditions.

According to Ajayi, the problem is not a complete loss of interest in nature but rather the failure to preserve and share ecological knowledge.

Speaking on the role of photographers in preserving and protecting Nigeria’s ecosystems, Ajayi said environmental photography remains essential in shaping public awareness and inspiring conservation efforts.
She identified poor tourism infrastructure, insecurity and the absence of economic incentives as major reasons Nigeria lacks globally recognised wildlife imagery comparable to countries like Kenya and South Africa.

Ajayi specifically noted that security challenges around conservation sites such as Gashaka Gumti National Park have negatively impacted tourism in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Nature Photography Awards initiative, according to Ajayi, aims to build wildlife archives and reward photographers based on rarity, technical quality and emotional impact of submitted works.

The environmental advocates stressed that conservation strategies in Nigeria must be locally driven and avoid repeating exclusionary colonial-era conservation models that historically displaced indigenous communities from their lands.