The demand for fish in Nigeria is still not met, despite having a domestic production estimated at about 800,000 metric tonnes. The demand stands at about 2.1 million metric tonnes per year. There is a shortfall of about 1.3 million metric tonnes. To solve this problem Nigeria has turned to fish importation while several other policies are being put in place by successive administrations to improve on local production. However, none of the efforts has been successful so far. The aim of this paper is to assess the potentials of offshore aquaculture within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Nigeria with the view of meeting the fish demand of Nigerians. The paper develops a framework for the operation of offshore aquaculture. The implications of climate change on offshore fish production along the coastal area were highlighted. Strategies and policy measures needed to combat the challenges facing offshore aquaculture in order for it to live to its full potentials in protecting the living welfare of the fishermen and ensuring food security are also discussed.

This study investigated the dynamics and socioeconomic drivers of illegal hunting of wildlife animal commonly called bushmeat in Oba Hills Forest Reserve (OHFR) in Southwest Nigeria. Two hundred and thirty-four households in 8 host communities were subjected to direct household survey using a multi-stage sampling technique. The results revealed that mainly young and middle-aged men engaged in group and seasonal bushmeat hunting, mostly during the dry season. Also, the scale of daily illegal bushmeat hunting is high in the protected area. Non-selective hunting has increased over the last five years with traditional means of hunting still prominent during the hunting expedition. Thus, the socioeconomic drivers (age, ethnicity and household size) had a strong relationship with illegal bushmeat hunting, and their odds ratio ranged between 2.11 and 3.73. Failure to provide stakes for the host communities’ inhabitants and weak penal system influenced illegal bushmeat hunting in OHFR. We conclude that the aforementioned factors need to be addressed for illegal bushmeat hunting to be tackled effectively. However, in the absence of political and economic stability, controlling illegal bushmeat hunting will remain extremely difficult and the future of wildlife conservation will remain bleak. Keywords: Protected area, bushmeat hunting, conservation, seasonal employment

Globally, the Covid-19 pandemic affected the environment, placing a strain on the economy and all parts of human society. The effects of Covid-19 are inevitable, as there is a reduction in human pressures on the natural ecosystem because of the lockdown of social and economic activities. Ecosystem integrity (in terms of species diversity, endemism, and threats) in African countries with global hotspots for biodiversity conservation threatened. This paper provides a snapshot of the quickly growing situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and predicts events during normality. At present, essential conservation work (protected area/national park staff still patrol and guard vulnerable species and landscapes) is still ongoing across the globe with the accruing positive effects of the pandemic—reduced air/water pollution, short-term disruption in wildlife trafficking and ecosystem restoration. Despite this, prevailing problems such as indiscriminate exploitation of wildlife resources, tourism revenue loss, staff absenteeism/poor performance, increased human dependence on natural resources, disruptions of field/research work, and species monitoring would persist. The Covid-19 pandemic will affect conservation program funding in most African countries. Our world is changing, and the conservation community must be ready to respond appropriately.

Human-wildlife conflict remains a major challenge in wildlife conservation. This study explored the occurrence of human-wildlife conflict and its impact on the subsistence of rural communities’ adjoining Okomu National Park (ONP), Edo State, Nigeria. A semi-structured questionnaire (for villagers and law enforcement staff of Okomu National Park) and focus group discussion were employed to establish the occurrence and impact of human-wildlife conflict in ONP from January to April 2019. A total of 5 villages were purposively sampled of which 160 villagers, 70 rangers and 3 focused groups (comprising 7 individuals per group) were surveyed. The results revealed that Monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster), Buffalo (Syneruscafer), Elephant (Loxodontacylotis), Duikers (Philatombamaxwelli), and Porcupine (Histrixcristata)causes significant problem (χ2 =102.28, P= 0.000; χ2=10.592, P=0.000; χ2=15.454, P= 0.001; χ2= 10.213, P= 0.001; χ2=27.815, P= 0.007 respectively). Also, the occurrence of human-wildlife conflict was higher in villages within 2km radius to park boundary. The livelihood of villagers was negatively affected as they lose their crops to wild animals with no intervention from the park authorities. Management of conservation areas should ensure clear boundary demarcation to reduce the rate of encroachment into the park. Besides, management strategies that aid in the preservation of ecological integrity of the site and human well-being should be taken into account. Improved conservation education and compensation for the loss incurred to crop-raiding should be designed and implemented.

This paper investigated the rule breaking conduct in a Nigerian protected forest reserve area in order to exploit natural resources using Randomized Response Technique (RRT) for data collection. Evident from this study show a higher proportion of the residents surrounding Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria illegally poach, encroach to farm, extract timber, gather firewood and graze their domestic animals in the conservation area. With the high level of noncompliance to the conservation rules in this study, there is a need for the government and conservation managers to identify and harness social norms that encourage compliance, as well as increasing probabilities of detection and stricter law enforcement on those that flout the conservation rules.