Listening In: SMACON Partners With Rangers to Hear Nature

| By Adora Onyile

Protected areas are important biodiversity hotspots and play a great role in conserving wildlife. On June 26, SMACON, in partnership with the National Park Service Nigeria, pre-launched the Park Biodiversity Observation Network, Park-BON. Park-BON complements ongoing efforts by introducing acoustic tools that help us understand species that are often missed in visual surveys, such as birds, bats, and insects.

The training took place at the National Park Service Headquarters in Abuja, equipping rangers from seven National Parks, including Cross River, Okomu, Old Oyo, Kamuku, Gashaka Gumti, Chad Basin, and Kainji Lake National Parks. Rangers were introduced to AudioMoths, audio recording devices used to record wildlife sounds.  Each park received a complete monitoring kit and guidance to prepare for a six-month trial phase focused on collecting acoustic data on park fauna.

SMACON staff leading the training

During the pilot phase, the SMACON team will visit each park to support the first deployments, help install necessary software, and set up systems for data management. The passive monitoring program will collect 24 hr acoustic data to track daily  activity patterns.

We can start mapping species trends, which will be truly valuable especially in hard-to-reach areas.

Park-BON adds a new layer to existing monitoring efforts in each park using acoustic tools to capture what visual surveys can miss. This technology and the hard working rangers bring us closer to understanding the ecosystems we’re working so hard to protect.

An Audiomoth used acoustic monitoring

The results from this trial will guide the  monitoring strategies of the network including scale-up. The goal is to fill knowledge gaps, offer new insights, and help park managers lead with data-informed strategies that grow with the needs of these protected areas.

These parks are teeming with incredible biodiversity, with many at-risk, and Park-BON is here to help us listen more closely.

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