Illegal mining, grazing threaten Gashaka Gumti National Park

By Godwin Agia, Jalingo

The Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation has identified Illegal mining and grazing as the biggest threats to the spawning Gashaka Gumti National Park.
People’s Daily reports that Gashaka Gumti National Park, located in Taraba and Adamawa State, is Nigeria’s largest national park and is also one of the richest national parks in Africa in terms of biodiversity.
Dr. David Peter, Deputy Project Manager of ANI Foundation, made this known during a programme for women in Toungo Local Government Area of Adamawa state, where the foundation and ROSHAN Renewables Ltd. celebrated the success of the savings and loans initiative for women.
According to Peter, the scheme, which led to the empowerment of over 450 women, was designed to improve livelihoods of households and reduce the dependence of local communities on the national park’s resources.
“The challenges we are facing in the park are regarding illegal mining and grazing, because these are the biggest threats to this Gashaka Gumti National Park and we have been calling on the stakeholders, political leaders and the government to support us in this mission so that these illegal activities will not push this park down.
“At the moment, I would say this is the best national park in Africa. In Nigeria, it’s the largest national park, so allowing this park to just go like this is not only going to affect Taraba and Adamawa States which the park is located but it’s going to affect the world entirely.