John Onah
In the last decades, the population of Northern Ground-hornbill has continued to decline even with its IUCN designated status as a species whose population is vulnerable (BirdLife, 2023). This species has been significantly impacted by habitat destruction and hunting, and its population within its extent of occurrence is mostly restricted to Protected Areas and wildlife sanctuaries (BirdLife, 2023). Yankari Game Reserve - a Protected Area in North-East Nigeria is one of the few sites in the country that still holds a population of the Northern Ground-hornbill. Even though they occur mainly within the Yankari Game Reserve, the local population is currently facing extinction risk due to increased pressure from habitat degradation, loss of nesting sites due to agricultural expansion and intensification around the protected area, and hunting pressure. Some staff of the Reserve have reported the increased demand for the body parts of the species for customary rituals and hunting disguise for hunters (Personal Communication). This has further increased the threat faced by the species. This highlights the need for community education and awareness programme on the need to protect the remaining population and advocate for the protection of the unique habitat of the species.
Our project will focus on the conservation of the threatened populations of the Northern Ground-hornbill across in Yankari Game Reserve though community engagement. We will use multifaceted approach encompassing the use of semi-structured questionnaires, conservation education and comprehensive stakeholder engagement to protect the species and other threatened species from hunting in the region. Also, a previous study had also highlighted zero nest found during nest search within the Reserve. While we will try to search for nest, we will also encourage and educate the communities on maintaining trees such as Baobab Adansonia digitata which are potential nesting sites for the species.
Through community-based survey, the project will provide information on the motivations that influence the perception of locals to hunt the species. This information will add up to the inventory of information on anthropogenic influences on threatened species. Conservation education and awareness programme designed for the conservation of the species will contribute effectively to its conservation in the Yankari Game Reserve. We believe that other species facing similar threats will also benefit from the conservation education programme, since the programme will specifically aim at renewing and strengthening the obligation of indigenous people to conserve species.