he Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the National Park Service (NPS) are working on modalities for the deployment of drone technology to monitor vast stretches of the nation’s forest reserves and national parks, which are about 21,000 square kilometres (km2).
According to NPS Conservator General Mr. Ibrahim Goni, it has become necessary to use technology to complement park rangers’ human efforts to curtail illegal activities, including grazing, mining and hunting around such areas.
Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja on activities to mark today’s global Rangers’ Day, Goni noted that, forest guards, who are also known as forest rangers, remain grossly “under-equipped and under-funded”.
The Conservator General said NPS had lost 20 of its rangers to human and animal attackers while scores of others had been maimed.
He said 1,860 suspects arrested for various illegalities around Nigeria’s national parks had been jailed, warned or were undergoing trial.
Goni said the government had approved 120 additional personnel to boost NPS’ staff strength to 2,081.
“The World Rangers’ Day commemorates rangers killed or injured in the line of duty while protecting the world’s natural and cultural resources. It celebrates the priceless sacrifices of rangers honourably working in the field.
“Rangers are generally under-equipped, underpaid, under-honoured; because they work in remote areas of every country, the media hardly gives them attention.
“There are over 1,000 national parks around the world with the oldest being the Yellowstone Park in the United States (U.S.A). The International Rangers’ Federation uses this day to share experiences with other rangers, forest guards, animal keepers in zoos and other protected areas,” he said.
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