Empowering Communities to Protect Biodiversity: Conservation Incentives and Monitoring

Project details Geographical location: Africa/Nigeria> Plateau state > Jos

Summary

The project aims to empower communities around the Shere, Jarawa, and Fusa to better manage their natural resources and build community pride in the region’s biodiversity. Community-based groups will collect information on their forests, local biodiversity, and threats. They will then use this data to improve land-use management.

Small grants will then be provided to communities as incentives for exceptional biodiversity conservation. It is to ensure that support targets the most pressing development issues.

Background

The klipspringer (Oretragus oreotragus) once found in enormous numbers from Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) to Ethiopia, has become extinct or rare in settled regions. It is listed as endangered by The World Conservation Union IUCN. This strictly monogamous, shy and nervous is quite unique in that the only population in West Africa is found on the Jos plateau around Jarawa, Fusa and Shere Hills. As no scientific survey has been conducted yet, the exact population and distribution of these identified species is not known precisely. The area is a paradise for birds, with over 257 bird species. It is also of particular biological interest because it is home to the Jos Plateau Indigo bird (Vidua maryae), which is a nest parasite of the Rock Firefinch (Lagnositicta sanguinodorsalis). These species of bird were discovered by an American ornithologist Prof Robert Payne in the mid 1990s and have not been found elsewhere in the world outside the Jos Plateau. This unique wildlife is highly threatened, however, due to serious social and economic problems.

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Overall objective:

Develop incentives for communities willing to assume responsibility for conservation management.

Specific objectives

1) Conduct participatory ecosystem monitoring and data collection.

2) Build interest in sustainable livelihoods.

Solution

The project strategically tries to involve local communities to manage and monitor biodiversity and engage in biodiversity-friendly livelihoods in and around the Shere, Jarewa and Fusa hills. The activities are supported by E.R.C.I.’s commitment to both educate community members and provide them with incentives for an environment-friendly behavior.

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