admin | June 6, 2024
News Brief
Ngel Nyaki means “forest of bees” in the Fulfulde language. There are more than a dozen bee species in Ngel Nyaki, according to a 2023 study. The reserve comprises 40 square kilometres of land in the North East region of Nigeria. Much like the rest of the region, the reserve is threatened by farming, grazing, hunting, and logging. To help protect its biodiversity, researchers and conservationists are turning to its namesake: bees. A project has trained community members on good beekeeping practices, including proper tools, collection methods, and updated hives to collect more honey and protect the bees.
Nightfall at the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve field station is rich with the whispers, chirps, and trills of insect song. As night recedes in the North East region of Nigeria, the early hours of dawn vanquish the fog, revealing distant mountains, valleys, and forest. Bees, butterflies, and birds of all colours flit from flower to fruit, hive to nest.
Ngel Nyaki means “forest of bees” in the Fulfulde language. There are more than a dozen bee species in Ngel Nyaki, according to a 2023 study. The reserve comprises 40 square kilometres of land. It also boasts a high level of biodiversity, including species threatened with extinction.
Much like the rest of the region, the reserve is threatened by farming, grazing, hunting, and logging. And the natural artistry of its terrain also makes it a prized tourism destination.
To help protect its biodiversity, researchers and conservationists are turning to its namesake: bees.
The most abundant bee species is the western honey bee (Apis mellifera). The species is widespread worldwide, but research suggests it is native to Africa.
In and around Ngel Nyaki, the western honeybee is the backbone of the local honey industry, providing a major source of income for communities within and near the reserve.
In the nearby village of Yelwa, Monday Zacchaeus prepares for a routine beehive check by trekking to the base of a mountain at the outskirts of the village where he mounted around a dozen hives some weeks earlier.
Mr. Zacchaeus says: “Beekeeping in Ngel Nyaki started in the time of our forefathers…. We are also trusting that our own children will follow this same step. But to keep this profession, we have to defend the forest because if the forest of Ngel Nyaki is destroyed, the bees will no longer be here.”
In 2005, after years of tenuous protection, Ngel Nyaki became the launch pad for the Nigerian Montane Forest Project, a conservation project spearheaded by the University of Canterbury in New Zealand that aims to blend education with protection, research, and community forest management.
Professor Danladi Umar is co-director of the project. Mr. Umar says: “We knew the connection between the people and the forest. If they are going to be kept out of the forest, they need alternative livelihood that doesn’t tamper with the forest.”
Mr. Umar adds that, although the project initially invested in a wide range of skill-upscaling training and workshops to support community members who had been largely reliant on farming and grazing, beekeeping soon won out. Gradually, hundreds of locals were trained in the art of apiculture.
Before the project, beekeepers commonly harvested honey by setting fire to beehives with cow dung or firewood, often killing the bees and the trees harbouring them. Today, they have been trained to use handheld smokers, which briefly dispel the bees during honey collection. This way, millions of bees survive to make more honey while providing other crucial ecosystem services—such as pollination.
Also, a newly introduced method uses a stainless steel extraction machine, which reduces the chances of contamination from unclean hands, sieves, or dishes used in manual processing. Locals now have access to safer, sting-proof suits.
The project has also introduced updated hive designs. Instead of farming bees in holes in the ground or trees, locals have learned to construct moveable beehives. These are less vulnerable to attacks from predators and to flooding, and can be relocated.
After the training, Mr. Zaccheaus was quickly able to expand his honey operation from 10 hives to more than 40 in less than one year. He says that some farmers in neighbouring communities have added more than 100 hives to their farms, a milestone he hopes to meet in the next year.
However, beehives, bee suits, smokers, and extractor machines are huge luxuries for many Ngel Nyaki families who struggle to make ends meet.
Mr. Umar says, “The [training of] skills are adequate. There are private success stories from this initiative. But when we get large funding to reach poorer locals, the Ngel Nyaki honey boom would be more massive.”
This story is adapted from an article published by Mongabay called “Bees bring honey and hope to a forest reserve in Nigeria.” To read the full story, go to: https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/bees-bring-honey-and-hope-to-a-forest-reserve-in-nigeria/