Gashaka Gumti National Park is in the far east of Nigeria. It is on the Cameroon line, a dramatic volcanic mountain chain. It is an area of ‘soaring mountains (including Nigeria’s highest), pristine forests and undulating savannahs, a vast mosaic of wilderness that protects some of the most ancient forests of the continent and is home to nationally and regionally important populations of pangolin, buffalo, leopard, a wide range of antelopes and primates, including the critically endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.   Sadly the park was neglected for many years, resulting in illegal grazing, logging, hunting and even mining that became a threat to these unique and vital ecosystems.

Thankfully, since 2017, ANI (Africa Nature Investors Foundation) have been co-managing and working to protect and develop the park in a first of its kind Public Private Partnership Agreement with the Nigerian National Park Service.  They have had great success.   

 

 

Godiya Gaya is the ANI community education manager.  She works with a community liaison team, doing vital work to uplift and empower local communities. By improving access to and the quality of education they are opening up opportunities and helping to improve standards of living without damaging the natural environment.  Godiya is regularly in schools, working with school clubs and also running camps for local children. We are proud that PACE materials are helping them to make a difference, and look forward to getting new titles and editions out there soon. Have a read of Godiya’s recent feedback below…

 

The PACE Africa our Home and Vulture books and the films have become very important to us. They are now a constant part of the activities during our club sessions and also when we go camping with students.

We have a reading problem among most pupils and students here. Because of its wide subject coverage, Africa our Home is big part of our compulsory reading activity, especially at camp.  While we engage only a small group per time at the moment, we have noted the growing interest in reading among the kids. We hope that continuing this activity will help improve their reading skill.

We do not only read or watch films to enjoy the stories; we also learn ways we can safely engage with our communities, reduce waste and also turn waste to good use.  Last week at camp, students learned natural pest control using some readily available ingredients and how to re-purpose charcoal dust.

 

 

 

As well as using PACE ourselves we have distributed copies of Africa our Home across schools in both the Northern and Southern sectors of the Park. We follow up with them to make sure that the books are being put to good use!

 You can read more about the Gashaka Gumti landscape, National Park and ANI’s work here