In Nigeria, several forests are victims of poaching and illegal logging. Faced with the phenomenon, NGOs are transforming loggers and poachers into protectors of nature reserves.
This is the case of James Leleghale Bekewei, this 26-year-old Nigerian whose main source of income was the felling of trees in the Okomu reserve in the southwest of the country. Now he works as a forest ranger in the same.
''I was a lumberjack before, yes, I cut wood with some of my colleagues. So we go [were] into the forest, we cut down trees and we transport them to Lagos, just to make money,'' he explains.
But that was before. Today, Bekewei has gone to the other side of the law, tracking down hunters and loggers in this vast reserve. Living in a camp in the forest, he earns 90,000 naira ($65) a month and receives free accommodation and meals.
James Leleghale Bekewei, was recruited by Africa Nature Investors (ANI), an NGO commissioned by the Nigeria National Park Service to manage Okomu. The NGO hopes to alleviate the economic pressures that are eating away at Nigeria's nature reserves.
''The approach that we have used, and continue to use, is to engage with these people, to engage with local communities and people involved in logging so that they realize the need for this approach. Economically, women and young people are the targets of our project, explains Peter Abanyam, park director, Africa Nature Investors.
Poverty and the weakness of a state unable or unwilling to enforce regulations have made illegal hunting and logging in protected areas an attractive way to make money. According to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Nigeria has lost 96% of its original forest cover.
