By Jimoh Babatunde
In between the building surrounding
the striking multi-purpose Rotunda , a peacock iridescent blue and
green plumage feathers exposing the beauty of the bird welcome us as
we move into the Lekki Conservation Centre tucked inside the bustling
sprawl of Lagos away from the maddening crowd and noise the city is
noted for.
The Lekki Conservation Centre, LCC,
covering a land area of 78 hectare, is a conservation initiative to
protect wildlife found in south west coastal environment of Nigeria
in the face of sprawling urban development.
The conservation education centre has
continued to attract both local and international interests, serving
as an education and resource centre to varieties of groups, majority
of which are schools and tourists.
Under the scorching sun, Lucky George,
Precious Ogbebor and I set out for the game viewing knowing fully
well that prime time for viewing flora or fauna at LCC, is
especially in the morning when it’s coolest and the humidity is not
as oppressive, plus when the animals are most active.
Not deter by the heat, we move into the
conservation area after we were bailed from paying the mandatory
N500 gate fee by LCC's media man , Kunle Olawoyin.
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| The trail leading to the forest |
Moving into the nature reserve through
the trail board-walk which was constructed in 1992 to enrich
tourists/visitors view of the vast resources of the nature reserve,
we could see very far through the trees.
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| Lucky on the newly constructed canopy |
This is so at this time of the year,
March, when the rain has not fully commence, the bottom of the huge
palms that reach into the sky has become dried unlike in the raining
season that they are covered with lush green leaves .
The nature reserve traverses a mosaic
of vegetation types, namely: secondary forest, swamp forest and
Savannah grassland.
We have hardly moved some few meters on
the 2km stretch trail that Ogbebor sighted Mona monkeys with babies
— swinging through the tops of the trees , she reaches out to her
Ipad for a quick photo snap.
“Here Mona monkeys are common sights,
you will see more as we walk round” the Media head of the
conservation centre said as he takes us on historical lane as to when
the conservation was establish and what it is meant to serve.
HOW IT STARTED
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| Koi fish at the new pond |
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| Kunle, Lucky, Precious and Jimoh |
Olawoyin said the establishment of LCC
was born out of Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)’s relentless
commitment to conservation of Nigeria’s vast natural resources.
“This commitment was heightened by the presence of its National
Secretariat in Lagos, thus warranting the need to have a conservation
project site within Lagos metropolis that will serve as biodiversity
conservation icon and environment education centre.
He added “This laudable concept could
have come at no better time going by the daily degradation of the
city’s remaining natural environment fragments due to ceaseless
urbanisation; thus, making LCC one of the few natural environment
relics within the city.”
Lucky interjects, apart from the Mona
monkeys are there other animals here? Olawoyin says there are Monitor
lizards, huge turtles, bush bucks, Maxwell duikers and giant rats. He
adds that one of the turtles died seven months ago at almost 100
years.
Before he finished, Ogbebor asked if
there are snakes around? With laughter one of the guards that
accompanied us said there are Pythons but they are nocturnal animals,
“even if you see any now, it is as good as useless.” Olawoyin
added that to spot the animals will take patience .
Because of her size, Precious Ogbebor
was already panting for breath before we get to one of the five rest
stops
A wooden platform overlooking the swamp
habitat provides seats to be still, listen and look for fish, birds
or the occasional crocodile. Rest stops are conveniently situated
about every 250 meters or about every sixth of a mile.
From the rest spot, we sight the newly
constructed longest canopy walkway in the continent of Africa just
constructed by the Lagos state government. “This is in partnership
with Lagos state government on Eco-tourism here.” Olawoyin said.
The Canopy walk is funded by the Lagos
State Government through the state Ministry of Tourism and
Intergovernmental Relations, the walk way will soon be commissioned
and opened to the tourists.
As we move to take a walk on the
canopy, Olawoyin voice came up again saying this “ Canopy is 401
meters and the peak is 22.5 meters and everything is within the
forest. We used Aluminium and not wood like you have in Calabar.”
Before he finishes, we are already
climbing with the forest guard, but Kunle, Precious and I withdraw
either for fear of height or fatigue. Lucky continues with the
canopy walk while we make our way to the tree house through the
trail.
TREE HOUSE
The tree house is one of the most
fascinating features one can ever come across in an ecotourism zone.
The tree house, stylishly seated on a stout dawadawa tree (Pakia
biglobossa) rises above 25m. A well protected ladder is ruggedly
mounted behind the tree to enable nature enthusiasts reach to tree
house to savour the panoramic view of the tree canopy.
Though we could not climb the tress
house as it is under renovation, we had another rest at the foot of
the tree.
With voices of Lucky and the guard
re-echoing from the canopy, we move to join them as they descend . We
soon reconnect to savour the forest outlook from the bird hide which
enables avid bird watchers snipe at unaware avifauna that are wading
through the pool overlooked by the hide or foraging within the
vicinity.
Olawoyin explains that bird lovers can
observe or photograph herons or egrets wading or foraging in a marsh
just outside the dark from the bird hide.
“Some of the 118 recorded resident,
migratory and some rare birds calling LCC home include the
white-throated bee-eater, black-crowned crane, African jacana,
Senegal Coucal, African harrier-hawk, Swamp Palm Bulbul and Viellot’s
Weaver.”
Asked the feeling taking a walk on the
canopy, Lucky enthused, “cool experience, wonderful as you can see
the entire forest up there . I will want to do it again if I have the
opportunity.”
PICNIC AREA
The picnic area is a recreation island
in the middle of a forest. It has a semi-enclosed block structure
containing the indoor picnic facilities and conveniences. The outdoor
has outdoor game facilities mostly for children.
Some few meter walk take you to the
newly constructed Eco-Park facilities at the Lekki Conservation
Centre such as fish ponds, jungle gym, outdoor games, and Gazebos
among others.
Pointing to some coloured fish in the
pond, I ask what they are called. “ They are called Koi fish from
Japan.” Olawoyin replied
“This fish is most famous by its
beautiful colors that have been created via selective breeding. There
are over 20 different varieties of koi fish that differ in color,
patterns and type of scales.”
The open area of the park will
definitely be a pull for young tourists and those young at heart
with the addition of the large floor ludo and chess games.
Olawoyin nodding said over two million
tourists of more than 100 nationals have visited LCC since inception.
“Most of NCF’s School Conservation
Clubs were established following the impact of students/teachers’
visit to the Centre. It will suffice to say that LCC has achieved,
and it is still achieving the goal of educating the public both young
and old on the need to conserve natural resources.
“The various tiers of government are
not left out from paradigm shift from infallible conservation lessons
learnt from visiting the Centre.”
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