Conservationists have charged the Federal Governments and other relevant stakeholders to urgently implement and enforce conventions and agreements protecting migratory species from extinction across the country.

They said Nigeria needs a marine national park that will protect the marine environment and species, such as Whales, Dolphins, and Sea turtles that are using Nigerian territorial waters, which are currently unsafe.

A Professor of Biodiversity Conservation at University of Uyo, Edem Eniang, led the call while speaking to The Guardian on the first ever state of the world’s species report, which revealed that worlds’ migratory species of animals are in decline even as extinction risk is increasing daily.

A major focus of the report is the 1,189 animal species that have been recognised by Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Parties as needing international protection and are listed under CMS, though it also features analysis linked to over 3,000 additional non-CMS migratory species. Billions of animals make migratory journeys each year on land, in the oceans and rivers, and in the skies, crossing national boundaries and continents, with some travelling thousands of miles across the globe to feed and breed.

Migratory species play an essential role in maintaining the world’s ecosystems, and provide vital benefits, by pollinating plants, transporting key nutrients, preying on pests, and helping to store carbon.

Some of the species listed under the Convention are those at risk of extinction across all or much of their range, or in need of coordinated international action to boost their conservation status.

Eniang who doubles as an expert in Wildlife and Protected Areas Management said until Nigeria begins to protect such species by creating a marine national park, those species will continue to decline in their numbers.

He said: “There is a lot of poaching and illegal hunting and unregulated fishing and destruction of marine life, sea turtles are sold on the street, Dolphins are killed and marketed as bush meat.

“Government must enforce conventional agreements protecting migratory species, the endangered species protection and conservation laws of Nigeria and the National Park Amendment Act must be used to create a haven for the animals.

“While there should also be enlightenment for the public, celebrate and target the species for sustainable conservation and research, enhancing our well-being as a people and nation.”

He explained that there are international provisions and agreements that have been in existence and Nigeria has since signed those agreements.

Some of them, he said are CMS, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Covention against international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) convention which are currently being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Environment.

“The CITES Desk office has done what they can to protect the critically endangered species from illegal trade. To some extent, their efforts are not sufficient because so much is going on out there in the forest and at worst the sea areas. There is no monitoring nor protection and the bulk of the migratory species in the aquatic environment.

“For instance, in a country like Gabon there is what is called the Marine Police or Fisheries Police Department and these people protect marine wildlife. In Nigeria, there is no such protection, we have so much pollution-oil related and from other industries, plastic menace in water, dirty beaches and other kinds of problems,” he said.

According to him, in a state such as Cross River State, where the largest population of European Bank swallows that migrate through Nigeria, they used to roost but roosty is no longer as it used to be due to too much deforestation.

He said: “What we can do is to ensure that we use the provision of the conventions to implement them using various governments, inter-governmental and community-based organisations, corporate institutions and non-profit organisations should join hands to protect the species. We need to activate the new national park of the Federal Government proposed in different states of the federation. Many states have no protected areas including Akwa-Ibom, wildlife sanctuary or game reserve and national parks.”

The Director General, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Dr Joseph Onoja, argued that the decline of birds is the reality of the world today, emphasising that the development is mostly caused by human activities.

“Most of them also rely on trees for their nesting and so if you destroy trees, they will not have a place to nest. As we continue with some of the practices that hurt them, we may not be able to see the recovery of birds. It is important to protect their habitats so the birds will be protected by both residents and migratory species,” he said.

Onoja said animals are under severe decline in Nigeria due to illegal hurting, bush meat trade and others.

“Some animals are hunted with reckless abandon in such a way of killing the pregnant ones and the little ones. So, there is no sustainability in all of these and some of these animals are listed as endangered species under the endangered species act signed into law in 2016. If we continue at this level, we will continue to drive the species into extinction. Human activities have driven more than one million species into extinction in the last 100 years and that is something to think about as humans,” he added.