Biodiversity conservation: National parks document indigenous knowledge

The National Park Service (NPS) has established an indigenous knowledge desk across in its seven national parks and the headquarters to generate and document relevant indigenous knowledge that will aid in biodiversity conservation in the country.

Conservator-General of NPS, Ibrahim Goni, said in a statement that the documentation is to include population growth and unsustainable resource consumption to curb the menace of climate change and global warming, invasive alien species, over-exploitation of natural resources and land degradation.

“To curb the menace of these environmental challenges, the management must integrate indigenous knowledge as means to complement conservation efforts already established,” he said.

Goni, who addressed the officers during a two-day forum recently at the Old Oyo National Park, said they were taking measures to reposition the national parks to meet world standards, adding “so we must capture the indigenous challenges to be able to apply indigenous solutions to them as well.’’

He said the desk officers were selected based on merit and ability to work effectively and were expected to generate and document relevant indigenous knowledge that will be useful for biodiversity conservation.