Biodiversity Conservation in Nigeria: Perception, Challenges and Possible Remedies
Anwadike BC
Abstract
There are rapid changes in worldwide species distribution and abundance especially in the tropics and subtropics where they occur in abundance relative to other regions of the world .Countries worldwide including Nigeria show strong inclination towards effective biodiversity monitoring to maintain and sustainably utilize their biological resources Nigeria is blessed with a plethora of biodiversity and biological resources including plants, animals and ecosystems to the extent that some of them are threatened to extinction and degradation resulting from the imbalance between economic development and biodiversity conservation. Some major threats to biodiversity conservation in Nigeria include poverty, economic development, incomplete or non implementation and non ratification by government of international treaties and conventions on conservation issues, ambiguous governmental laws on biodiversity, climate change, pollution, invasion by alien species etc. According to the IUCN Red list of 2013, Nigeria has a total of 309 threatened species in the following taxonomic categories: Mammals (26), Birds (19), Reptiles (8), Amphibians (13), Fishes (60), Mollusks (1), other Invertebrates (14) and Plants (168) Possible remedies include concerted effort towards the implementation and ratification of treaties and conventions on biodiversity, educating the populace to forgo cultural practices that are inimical to conservation of biological resources. The essence of this paper is to highlight some of these unwholesome practices that endanger biodiversity and to sensitize the populace on the importance of biodiversity conservation practices in Nigeria.