Cross River Bush Baby (Galago cameronensis)Tops Nigeria’s list.

Top on the priority list of Nigeria’s over two hundred most endangered species, submitted for the Barcode of Wildlife Project is the Cross River Bush Baby (Galago cameronensis).

It is a species of primate in the Galagidae family. It lives in southeastern Nigeria and also found in neighbouring northwestern Camaroun.Its head and body length is 7 inches with a 10 inch tail. It is a nocturnal animal; it carries out its activities in the night and sleeps during the day. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing and smell, and specially adapted eyesight. It is one of the most endangered species in Sub-Saharan Africa, where a lot of primates are hunted for bush meat trade.
The Nigerian endangered species list is part of the fulfillment of set goals of the Barcode of Wildlife Project to create a public library and data base of 10,000 species for use by regulatory agencies, enforcement agencies and scientists in determining forensic evidence in wildlife crimes.

Beyond the Bush Meat Trade-DNA Barcoding profers Solutions

Like most African countries, indiscriminate trade and consumption of bush meat is very common. Most major markets in the country have the bush meat openly displayed for sale. Hunters kill gorillas, primates and all kinds of wild animals available to them either as a cultural feat or for commercial purposes .At the point of sale the animals are already killed, processed and sometimes dried or ground to powder, thereby making it difficult to identify by mere physical observation.

The Barcode of wild life project (BWP), initiated by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) is a new tool that enables law enforcement agents to distinguish bush meat in local markets gotten from endangered species.  

Though, trade in Bush meat is seen by some as a harmless commercial activity, it is illegal and has put over 90% of wild animals in Africa in danger of extinction. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) concluded on 3 March 1973 and entered into force after ratification by 10 States, on 1 July 1975; seeks to conserve biodiversity and contribute to its sustainable use by ensuring that no species of wild fauna or flora becomes or remains subject to unsustainable exploitation through international trade, thereby contributing to the significant reduction of the rate of biodiversity loss. Nigeria is a party to the Cites regulations and as such employs all national and international laws and protocols open to her to fight wildlife crimes such as bush meat trade.

BWP to raise awareness that Poverty should not Justify Poaching

As far as Nigeria is concerned, poaching, at least, within the country is a crime committed predominantly by the poor and impoverished. This scenario with the sensibilities and sentiments surrounding it, sometimes sway the hand of justice to render mild penalties to offenders. As a result, experts advise that the Barcode of Wildlife Project should be used to create awareness on the extent of criminality practiced by poachers and the danger it poses to the environment. 

Some Poachers arrested by Park officials in South West, Nigeria

In a presentation, at the Legal Standards Workshop on DNA Barcoding evidence, held recently in Abuja, Nigeria; Barr. Godwin Ugwuja, the Legal officer of the Kainji National Park, Niger state of Nigeria, reported that most offenders prosecuted for wildlife crimes were poor and indigent fellows, who readily pleaded guilty and gave no room for contentions that could lead to forensic testing of samples.

In some of the cases the Magistrate either gave them lighter penalties or acquitted them on compassionate grounds. In a certain event, a notorious offender serving a jail term was released due to an intervention of a human rights activist who argued that a human being should not be so punished for killing an animal. However, the prosecuting lawyer reopened the case and based on existing laws, the offender was punished accordingly .This implies that the existing laws are sufficient for nipping the crime of poaching in the bud irrespective of who is committing it. 

  Poaching is traditionally defined as the illegally hunting, killing or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Until the 20^th century, mostly impoverished peasants poached for subsistence purposes, thus supplementing a scarce diet. By contrast, stealing domestic animals such as cattle raiding is considered theft, not poaching. Since the 1980s, the term poaching has also been used for the illegal harvest of wild animal and plant species.

In 1998, environmental scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst proposed the concept of poaching as an environmental crime, defining any activity as illegal that contravenes the laws and regulations established to protect renewable natural resources including the illegal harvest of wildlife with the intervention of possessing, transporting, consuming or selling it and using its body parts. They considered poaching as one of the most serious threats to the survival of plant and animal populations. Poaching is considered to have a detrimental effect on biodiversity both within and outside protected areas as wildlife populations decline, species are depleted locally, and the functionality of the ecosystem is disturbed.

In march 1973, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES),of Wild Fauna and Flora was signed in Washington D.C. and amended in June 1979 to Conserve biodiversity and contribute to its sustainable use by ensuring that no species of wild fauna or flora becomes or remains subject to unsustainable exploitation through international trade, thereby contributing to the significant reduction of the rate of biodiversity loss.

Nigeria is the first African country and infact the second country in the world to ratify CITES in 1974 and the desire and commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria to take very seriously, the protection of  her rich fauna and flora gave rise to the creation of the  National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)in 2007,  to enforce all environmental laws, standards  and regulation as well as enforce compliance with  provisions of all environmental conventions, aggreements and protocols to which Nigeria is party .

Barcode of Wildlife Project (BoWP) Promises Technology Transfer to Nigerians

The Nigerian scientific community was recently thrilled at the announcement of the capacity development and technology transfer potentials of the Barcode of Wildlife Project (BoWP).

In his goodwill address at the 26^th annual Biotechnology of Nigeria(BSN) workshop 2013, held at the National Biotechnology Development Agency(NABDA)Abuja, Nigeria, the Principal Investigator of the  BoWP and Executive Secretary of the Consortium on the Barcode of Life(CBOL), Mr. David Schindel, assured Nigerians that though, the  BoWP is an international project funded from the United States of America, the project will not take any bio-materials out of Nigeria but would rather engage in capacity and technology transfer within the country.

He outlined three major deliverables of the project as ensuring that more law courts do a better job of investigating wildlife crimes and prosecuting offenders appropriately based on National laws; constructing with the help of Nigerians, a data base and public library  of 10,000 wild species endangered by both domestic and international trade and enabling the Nigerian government and her relevant agencies to adopt the new technology as a means of protecting her Biodiversity .

Schindel, explained that BoWP is one of the Global Impact projects funded by Google Incorporated. Nigeria is one of the six countries of the world benefiting from the project. It is a partnership between Law Enforcement, Biodiversity and Biotechnology to protect biodiversity. For Nigeria, the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) is the coordinator of the Project, while the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), the National Parks in the country and other Government Agencies relevant in wildlife conservation. 

 The CBOL Executive Secretary described DNA Barcoding as a technology uses small pieces of bio-materials to identify , characterise and document biological components of plant and animal species. In other words this technology enables one to know if a piece of red meat or even species ground to powder is actually from certain stock or is  endangered  or not. He stated that the DNA barcoding is an initiative of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL),of  the Smithsonian Institute of USA and is economically viable for Agricultural growth and biodiversity conservation.

    

Nigerian Lawyers Applaud DNA Barcoding.

Lawyers that participated in the one-day, legal Standards Workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria ,Wednesday, unanimously affirmed that the DNA Barcode technology of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life(CBOL), initiative of the Smithsonian Institute of the USA, is tenable evidence in court for the trial of wildlife crimes.  

At the workshop organized by the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in collaboration with CBOL, the Legal Adviser of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Barr. Alabo Wokoma, stated that, though there had been several arrests and prosecutions of Wildlife offenders in Nigeria, no case of presentation of DNA Barcode evidence for court judgments had occurred yet. He however noted that the growing trend in the crime rate and sophistication of perpetrators, the DNA Barcode evidence would certainly be a veritable tool in determining court decisions and judgments in the coming years.

Futhermore, Dr. Christine Oby Onyia,Director of Environmental Biotechnology Department of NABDA and National Coordinator of the Barcode of Wildlife Project (BoWP)in Nigeria, noted that reports  gathered from NESREA and other government agencies responsible for the control and execution of wildlife offenders  show that only a scientific and fact based evidence such as the DNA barcoding results would  solve problems of contentions that may  likely arise in complicated case in future.

She noted that there had been cases where elephant tusks and ivories had been ground into powder or put in tablet form and brought into Nigeria from other countries of the world. However, none of these incidents had resulted in court cases requiring forensic evidence to determine court judgments due to the fact that offenders always pleaded guilty.

Nevertheless, Mr Thomas Lantum of the Nigerian Custom Service reiterated that the scientific intervention proffered by the DNA Barcode technique would be a very useful tool in the hands of law enforcement agents in tracking down criminals.