Environmentalists have called for reforestation, technology integration and community participation to strengthen conservation efforts in protected areas across the country.

They made the call at a webinar themed “Scaling Conservation Impact: Lessons from the Field”, organised by the Nigerian Environmental Study Action Team (NEST) to explore ways to improve biodiversity conservation, present recent research findings on the status of Hooded Vultures and promote national and community action.

The call follows growing threats to vulture species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List released in July 2026, which highlighted more than 500 threatened, endangered and vulnerable Nigerian species.

The experts identified forest loss as a major challenge, stressing the need for a national conservation committee, the integration of science and technology, sustainable management of protected areas and effective fundraising mechanisms.

They also advocated greater community involvement through public enlightenment on the value of trees and financial incentives linked to the benefits derived from protected areas.

Speaking on “Emerging Technologies and Impact on Community Conservation Action”, the President of Conservation Allies, Dr Paul Salaman, said Nigeria had recorded significant conservation gains, with seven national parks and 13.96 per cent of its land and inland water areas under formal protection providing a foundation for national conservation efforts.

The Chair of the IUCN United States Fund noted that Nigeria had the biodiversity, scientists, protected areas and conservation leaders needed to advance conservation, but required clear priorities for protecting key species, adequate funding and wider implementation of successful initiatives.

“Reforestation and protected areas are some of the best tools we have. Justifying these interventions through species conservation and science is important. Planting trees is also a good way to create employment and restore degraded areas within or outside protected areas,” he said.

Salaman, however, stressed that conservation efforts must account for the long-term costs of managing protected areas. “Sustainability of a protected area is extremely important because, when you are managing an area, whether you buy it or get it registered as a protected area, there are long-term costs,” he said.

He urged more conservation organisations to seek IUCN membership and called for the inclusion of host communities in conservation planning, describing them as critical stakeholders.

“It is important to have the community working with you because, ultimately, if they are not, they could present the biggest challenges to protecting that area,” he added.

Similarly, a former postdoctoral scholar at Queen Mary University of London, Dr Emmanuel Nwankwo, said encouraging farmers to plant trees could help expand conservation efforts, particularly if they understood the potential long-term financial benefits of trees compared with annual crops.

“One way to approach this is to shift the farmer’s priority from the annual crops he or she plants to the benefits derived from trees in the forest,” he said.

Speaking on “Hooded Vultures in Nigeria: Demand for Action”, Nwankwo also advocated the use of technology in conservation, provided communities gave their consent and their rights were respected.

He said technologies could improve visibility, speed and coordination in conservation activities.

According to him, satellites, artificial intelligence (AI), drones, the Internet of Things and blockchain could help detect early environmental changes, screen recordings, sort images and identify anomalies.

However, he cautioned that such tools could be misused for community surveillance, widen the digital divide and undermine local conservation efforts.

“While these tools are important and crucial in community conservation efforts, they should not be used for unnecessary surveillance of communities or to work against them and what they have built over the years,” he said.

Also, a Principal Technical Officer II at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), and co-researcher in NEST’s study on Hooded Vultures in Nigeria, Dr Udoka Obiajunwa, said habitat loss accounted for 50 per cent of the decline in the species’ population, with poisoning, hunting and electrocution responsible for the remainder.

He explained that logging and settlement expansion were reducing the number of tall, mature trees vultures need for resting, roosting and nesting. “An effective response will combine habitat enforcement, research and community stewardship. Some tall trees and suitable feeding environments should be treated as part of a habitat network,” Obiajunwa said.

Earlier, NEST’s Executive Director, Prof. Emmanuel Nzegbule, said global biodiversity loss had reached alarming levels, with some analysts projecting that about half of the world’s biodiversity could be lost by the end of the next century.

“Nigeria is not different from the global outlook, with habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, climate change and population growth depleting the country’s biodiversity. “NEST is galvanising action to address this challenge. Policies and field-level approaches need to be adjusted, while public education and research should be expanded,” he said.

Nzegbule identified the Hooded Vulture as one of Nigeria’s flagship species facing a dangerous population decline across the country and West Africa.