APART from other useful functions, vultures play a valuable role in keeping wildlife diseases in check in human communities. But this important creature is currently facing a serious threat.
It is due to this reason that the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has set out to advance community engagement within identified communities hosting the remnant vulture population in eastern Nigeria, Enugu and Anambra States in particular.
The engagement with the communities by the foundation was purely on vulture conservation sensitisation and training workshop with specific objectives.
Some of the objectives are to select, improve and enhance the capabilities and skills of interested vulture population monitoring and habitat protection volunteers within the ‘Vulture Save Zone’ (VSZ) in Anambra and Enugu States, and to raise awareness on the conservation need of vulture within targeted VSZ communities in southeastern Nigeria, leveraging on social networks like market women association, youth groups, as well as communities’ leadership, to bring about protection of these endangered species in the last habitat they are existing.
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During the session, a total of 35 community individuals from seven villages of Awka Etiti, Idemili South LGA of Anambra were assembled in Awka Etiti community town hall for awareness and sanitisation meeting on conservation need of existing vultures within their communities.
Diverse target groups such as market women, hunters, youth groups and butchers from abattoirs where the vultures feed, as well the leadership of the communities, graced the meeting. Major discussion and sensitisation centred on threats to the vultures including direct killing and habitat fragmentation.
It was gathered that residents from the community do not kill the vultures, rather, intruders or hunters from northern Nigeria were alleged to be the major threats to vultures through direct hunting and poisoning.
During the sensitisation session, candidates were nominated to serve as “Community Vulture Monitoring and Protection Officers” while a total of 13 individuals within Awka Etiti Community of Anambra and 15 individuals from Ihe Community of Enugu expressed interest and commitment to serve.
and then