Since entering into a management agreement with the National Park Service (NPS), particularly in relation to Gashaka Gumti National Park, Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation has placed community empowerment at the heart of its revitalisation strategy. This approach underscores ANI’s recognition of the vital role that strong community relations play in driving sustainable conservation outcomes.

Towards the actualisation of its goal of empowering communities surrounding the national park, ANI Foundation has prioritised women’s empowerment as one of the major pillars of its community development approach, either at the Southern sector in Gashaka, Taraba State or the Northern sector in Toungo, Adamawa State.

The formation of savings and loan groups, particularly for women, has become a widely embraced strategy for empowerment across both sectors, and this has led to the landmark achievement of savings amounting to N53 million by the women’s groups in Toungo.

Driven by a partnership between ANI Foundation and Roshan Renewables and targeted at women’s empowerment, the impressive milestone was achieved through the savings and loan programme implemented by Roshan Renewables Limited.

Speaking during the recent close-out ceremony of the groups in Toungo, a community located in Toungo Council of Adamawa State, Dr. David Peter, the Deputy Project Manager of ANI Foundation, outlined the focus and purpose of the initiative.

“We started these loans and savings groups in 2023, partnering with an expert organisation called ROSHAN Renewables to support in implementing this initiative to ensure that our women will be financially independent.

The savings and loan groups initiative was introduced when we realised that most women, their children, husbands and relatives were involved in most of the illegal activities in and around the Gashaka Gumti National Park. We recognised this as an opportunity for ANI Foundation to change this narrative,” he said.

According to him, several success stories abound of women buying plots of land, starting businesses, raising their children and even training their wards up to university level through the culture of saving thousands of naira weekly.

“What we have just witnessed today is a celebration of success. These women are from savings and loan groups which we established for communities living around the park. This initiative was established with the goal of making women financially independent and reducing their dependence on the resources of the national park. Over 450 women have recorded over N53 million in savings, with one group of 30 women saving over five million,” Peter added.

Expressing her delight, Happy Amos, ROSHAN State Coordinator, commended the women for their resilience and dedication while urging them to keep the savings and loan programme as an ongoing personal project even after its official close-out.

“As we work with these women, we make them understand that they are the ambassadors of this Gashaka Gumti National Park, and they are the custodians of their families. I am so glad this initiative exceeded our expectations and went beyond what we set out to achieve.

“When we kicked off this initiative, most of these women did not have any source of income. The success story is that with the women now empowered, children have gone to school, businesses have started, and women who did not have the resources to buy land are now buying plots of land and even building houses in their own names.

There are so many: hear amazing stories like women buying lands, women starting businesses from scratch, I am just so happy that this project has changed the lives of these women,” Amos stated.

Mrs. Hauwa Bala, a member of one of the groups, expressed her gratitude to the partnering organisations for the life-changing impact and support to her life. “I am so grateful to ANI and ROSHAN for their support. I was able to buy a plot of land, which will serve as a lasting legacy for my family. This programme has given me the confidence to take control of my life and make meaningful decisions for my future,” she said.

On her own, Hannatu Jacob, another beneficiary, stated how impactful the programme has been for her. “I am thrilled to have been able to sponsor my children to school, thanks to the support from ANI Foundation and Roshan. This programme has opened doors for me and my family, and I am grateful for the opportunity to give my children a better future,” Jacob submitted.

Also speaking, Hauwa Bala, who was full of praise for ANI Foundation and Roshan over the impact of the programme, stated: “This is a very important programme and it gives me great joy to be one of the participants. And we are also calling on other organisations to join ANI Foundation in their efforts to promote financial inclusion and women’s empowerment in Adamawa State and beyond.”

Another beneficiary, Mrs Joy Emmanuel, credits the programme with making her self-reliant, saying that she is now able to take care of herself and her family without relying on other people for support.

“I used to struggle to make ends meet, but thanks to ANI and Roshan, I am now self-reliant. This programme has taught me the importance of saving and managing my finances, and I am grateful for the skills and knowledge I’ve gained,” she explained.

With 30 women making up a group, the total number of women divided into the 16 saving groups in Toungo is 480, an indication of the reach of the novel scheme designed to improve livelihoods and reduce local communities’ dependence on the national park’s resources.

Speaking further on the challenges, Peter identified illegal mining and grazing as the major threats to the spawling of Gashaka Gumti National Park, which stands as Nigeria’s largest national park and also one of the richest national parks in Africa in terms of biodiversity. He further stated that, “we have been calling on the federal, state and local government, including stakeholders and political leaders to support the foundation in putting an end to these illegal activities.

“At the moment, this is the best national park in Africa and the largest in Nigeria. Allowing this park to be destroyed will not only affect Taraba and Adamawa states but also the entire world. Any security breach that affects this park affects the nation, that’s why, when we began working in this park, in collaboration with the National Park Service, we ensured that stakeholders, communities, political leaders and government at all levels keyed into the project to help us to revive this park,” he said.

Speaking on successes recorded in other areas beyond the savings and loan groups, Peter said the park has engaged women and youths in many activities, such as beekeeping, cow vaccination, school construction, and rural electrification, among others.

“We have recorded success even here in Toungo Local Council, which is the Adamawa sector. We have empowered 480 women directly through the savings and loan groups, organised bee keeping farming, where we recorded more than 50 farmers across all the communities surrounding the park in both sectors. We have farmers across the support zone communities who have been empowered with seedlings to improve further. Arranged cattle vaccination for over 100,000 cattle across the park.

“In addition, buildings were erected in government schools, new blocks of classrooms, and we currently have more than 50 students from our scholarship board, and we plan to achieve more in the months and years ahead,” he said.

At the event, which also featured the presentation of awards to women who distinguished themselves during the loan and saving activities by the ANI Foundation, the benefactors called on the government and other stakeholders to support efforts to protect the Gashaka Gumti National Park and promote sustainable development in the region and beyond.

It is worthy to mention that the National Parks of Nigeria face tremendous challenges and yet, they could play a significant role in the development of the country as it strives to diversify away from the oil and gas sector.

In other countries, national parks are economic assets, engines for development that generate employment for thousands of and provide revenue to government. This is in addition to providing critical ecosystem services that are essential for supporting a healthy environment which we rely upon for food, clean air, and water.

It was a belief in a vision of what the national parks could become that, in 2017, ANI Foundation signed a 30-year Partnership Agreement with National Park Service (NPS) to provide technical, management and financial support for Gashaka Gumti National Park.

Peter is full of gratitude to government agencies, saying, “we salute the Ministry of Environment and the National Park Service for this visionary move in signing the first agreement of its kind in Nigeria to co-manage a national park with a not-for-profit organization. ANI Foundation and the National Park Service have developed a strong working partnership based on openness, trust, and mutual respect.

“It was due to our successful partnership regarding Gashaka Gumti National Park, that the National Park Service invited ANI to partner with them to support and develop Okomu National Park in Edo State.

“At the same time, the Edo State Government requested that we take over the management of Gilli-Gilli Forest Reserve and the southern section of Okomu Forest Reserve both of which are adjacent to Okomu National Park. This latest partnership opens the door to closer collaboration between the federal and state government on the conservation and protection of protected areas in Nigeria.”

Gradually and consistently, ANI Foundation, as a Nigerian not-for-profit organisation, has focused on the sustainable management of protected areas with outstanding biodiversity value in partnership with communities and government.

“We provide this through ranger-led law enforcement, community engagement and development delivered through long-term management and partnership agreements. We believe that protected areas can be engines for development of local communities and the country.

“We aim to establish enabling conditions for private sector investment to sustain protected areas reducing their dependency on philanthropy and government spending.”