A conservation scientist’s love of bats has helped bring farmers and forest guardians together to protect one of Nigeria’s remaining rainforest refuges.
Iroro Tanshi is a Nigerian conservation ecologist and co-executive director of the Small Mammal Conservation Organization (SMACON). Her work focuses on endangered bats and the communities living around the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Cross River State.
Rediscovering a rare species
During field surveys in 2016, Iroro identified a colony of the endangered short-tailed roundleaf bat, confirming its presence in Nigeria after decades without a documented national record. But shortly afterward, a wildfire swept through the forest, revealing how quickly fire could threaten the bats’ habitat and surrounding farms.
Listening to local communities
In response, Iroro and colleagues launched a community-focused wildfire prevention campaign. Rather than relying only on outside enforcement, they worked with residents to understand why burns occurred and how farmers’ livelihoods could be protected alongside the sanctuary.
SMACON trained local forest guardians, helped communities create fire-management rules, installed weather stations and introduced daily fire-risk warnings. These warnings could be shared through public signs and local announcements, giving residents practical information about when burning was especially dangerous.
Measurable results in the forest
According to the Goldman Environmental Prize, community fire guardians responded to 74 outbreaks between early 2022 and spring 2025 without those fires escalating into destructive wildfire emergencies in and around the sanctuary. The organizers report patrols covering at least 2,400 farms and training for 50 community guardians.
Those figures are reported by the prize organization and refer to the stated period and geographic programme; they are not a claim that every wildfire threat across Nigeria has disappeared.
Conservation that supports people
The sanctuary and nearby forestlands provide important habitat for bats and other wildlife. The surrounding communities depend on agriculture, so preventing severe fires also protects homes, crops and livelihoods. Iroro’s work illustrates how species protection can succeed when the people closest to an ecosystem play a leading role.
She received the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa, announced in April. Her efforts continue through SMACON and related initiatives to strengthen community-led conservation.
Primary sources: Goldman Environmental Prize recipient profile; Official 2026 prize announcement.
Image note: Featured forest photograph is illustrative and does not show Iroro, her team or Afi Mountain Sanctuary.
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