WRD: Min of Environment Launches National Park Service Regulations
ORU Leonard
As part of the efforts of the government to enhance effective service delivery, the National Park Service regulations has just been produced and gazetted for effective park management and operations.
The Honourable Minister of Environment, Barr. Mohammed H. Abdullahi made this known on the commemoration of the 2022 World Ranger Day (WRD), held at the National Park Service Headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday, 16thAugust, 2022.
In his words,
“This year’s edition would have been formally commemorated in Nigeria on the 31st of July, 2022 being the date set aside by the IRF but this was not possible because the date fell on a Sunday. Today, the National Park Service is also joining the 140 other Ranger Associates as well as several Rangers from around the world, who have provisional membership status with International Ranger Federation (IRF) to mark this iconic day.”
Abdullahi, who stressed the importance of protecting and preserving plants and animals in their indigenous habitats, expressed concern at the challenges rangers are confronted with.
“In an attempt to ameliorate the challenges confronting Park Rangers and also mitigating the negative effects of climate change, government is doing quite a lot in this regard. Some of the interventions so far include improvement in the budgetary allocations to the Service, acquisition of more sophisticated arms, acquisition of modern conservation equipment such as drones, cyber trackers, SMARTs, etc to assist in surveillance and efficient data collection, enhancing capacities of officers & men through regular paramilitary training with the support of the military & other relevant paramilitary agencies, synergizing with national & international NGOs to provide technical and financial support for the Service, provision of more patrol vehicles, renovation of existing Rangers’ barracks and construction of new ones, regular promotion of officers & men, reviewed the condition of service for better welfare, reviewing the existing National Park Service Act to reflect current realities on the ground and also considering enhancing the manpower of the Service to strengthen the current protection and conservation efforts across our National Parks.”
The Minister referred to the Rangers as “Nature unsung Heroes” whose major responsibilities are to conserve biodiversity.
Therefore, this year’s theme “diversity” reflects every aspect of a Park Ranger, what they do and how they do it. Rangers undertake the onerous task of protecting our diverse ecosystems such as Forest Reserves, Game Reserves, Biosphere Reserves, National Parks, amongst others which are very critical to our safety and general wellbeing. Their activities are crucial to achieving the United Nations SDGs: Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), Goal 12 (Ensure Consumption and Production Patterns), Goal 13 (Climate Action), Goal 14 (Life Below Water) and Goal 15 (Life on Land) and indeed all the remaining SDGs, he added.
The Conservator General, National Park Service, Ibrahim M. Goni explained that the International Ranger Federation and its collaborators had chosen Diversity as the theme for World Ranger Day 2022.
According to him, they believe that diversity among Rangers should be embraced just as humanity should appreciate diversity in the natural world.
He explained that the essence of the gathering is to reflect on the priceless sacrifice made by Rangers by honouring the fallen heroes and celebrating the Rangers who still valiantly undertake these onerous tasks in the field.
The CG expressed sadness as he said despite the hardwork of rangers they are underappreciated
” It is however sad to also note that, these Rangers are always under-appreciated because they work in remote places and are not often on the media spot light.”
He disclosed that with the government intervention and the gazetted regulation the welfare of rangers would be taken care of
“In order to enhance the performance of Park Rangers and facilitate their effective protection of Parks’ resources, the National Park Service Regulations 2022 has just been produced and gazetted.”
The Conservator-General urged Nigerians to show recognition and support to rangers across the country, even as he underlined some of the challenges rangers face in ensuring the protection of Nigeria’s wild resources.
