First, congratulations on your nomination for the prestigious Whitley Award. Can you tell us what inspired you to embrace a career in conservation?

“I grew up in the hilly countryside of Jos, where I was exposed to a lot of animals at a very young age. Working for wildlife conservation is something that connects me to my childhood.”

After studying conservation biology for his bachelor's and master’s degrees at the University of Jos, he decided to pursue a doctorate degree focused on the anthropocentric impacts on birds and large mammals in the Yankari Game Reserve in the north-eastern part of the country. Then, in 2015, he joined the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF). 

According to Joseph, NCF’s strength lies in its ability to foster substantial impacts in the field, while addressing a diverse range of global issues through its numerous partnerships and collaborations with international organisations, such as Birdlife International, WWF and IUCN, among others.

“This is what makes us strong on the ground. The diverse partnerships with international organisations enable us to bring some of the global objectives to the local level.”  

You have been shortlisted for the 2021 Whitley Award. Can you tell us a little more about this achievement? Why did you choose to work on alternatives to vultures used in traditional medicine?

“While I was growing up, I had the opportunity to see vultures everywhere, sometimes flying close to me. But even at this time, I  could see their decline with my own eyes.  When I was at university, I was exposed to ornithology and that was when the passion from my childhood was resurrected.”

In 2015, he led the development of an advocacy plan for threatened vulture species, such as the Hooded Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, White-headed Vulture, White-backed Vulture. Alongside partners, such as the EU-funded LIFE Programme, BirdLife International and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), his team at NCF quickly identified traditional medicine as the main factor for the decline of vultures in Nigeria.

“The decline of the vulture population has many different drivers in other countries. But in Nigeria, we found that traditional medicine was the main one.”

Vultures parts are sought-after as an essential ingredient in diverse traditional medicines and rituals because people believe that they have can cure specific diseases, such as blindness, and possess certain powers, such as the ability to see peoples’ future.

Joseph and his team talked to vulture hunters, sellers and traditional healers, and they all agreed on a similar conclusion: the vulture ‘resource’ was declining as well as their own livelihoods. Hence, he said they agreed to build a new model around sustainable plant-based alternatives to avoid further endangering the country’s vulture populations and traditional livelihoods. 

“There are now two needs: there is a behavioural change need and a law enforcement need.”  

 Even though Joseph acknowledges these changes will take time, he hopes that the award will help increase visibility around this issue and find effective, long-term solutions.

“This Whitley award is an opportunity to upscale this alternative by engaging a broader part of our communities.”

When asked about the other challenges and opportunities of working in conservation in Nigeria, Joseph noted that nature was still not considered for its intrinsic value, only for its economic or commodity value. 

“Nonetheless, people are getting more and more aware of environmental issues, especially with climate change.”   

In addition to this work, NCF also partners with IUCN on remediation and rehabilitation of oil-impacted areas in the Niger Delta. What are your reflections regarding this work?

Joseph noted that oil extraction has brought a lot of tensions and impacted local communities, their land, water and livelihoods. “NCF’s role has been to try and find solutions to protect the Nigerian environment and secure communities’ livelihoods.  Oil and gas companies can no longer ignore the environmental impacts and they are paying more attention to their own operations.

Finally, what about your future plans?

Joseph reaffirmed that he plans to continue to dedicate his life to the conservation of nature and the better management of natural resources in Nigeria.