Lecture: The Nigerian Montane Forest Project: A community-run forest restoration and conservation initiative 

Summary

The Nigerian Montane Forest Project: A community-run forest restoration and conservation initiative

The high plateau forests of the Nigerian–Cameroon border are of great social and biological importance, storing more carbon per unit area than Amazonian forests. Yet these rare Afromontane forests have long faced relentless threats.

Founded in 2004 with the goal of safeguarding Nigeria's unique montane forests on the Mambilla Plateau, the Nigerian Montane Forest Project (NMFP) has grown from a remote pilot site into one of Africa's most respected models of ecosystem restoration, blending world-class science, community empowerment, and long-term climate strategy.

In this talk, I will share NMFP's transformative journey: how degraded hillsides are being restored into functioning ecosystems, how local communities have become expert botanists, skilled scientific data collectors, and digitally literate citizens, and how our research is shaping Africa's understanding of climate resilience. This presentation reflects on lessons from over 20 years of impact, showcasing how NMFP has pioneered a "win-win" approach that benefits both the environment and local communities while putting Afromontane forests on the map.

About the presenter: 

Ridwan is a doctoral researcher in ecology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium, where his research focuses on how large herbivores shape ecosystem dynamics in African savannas and European grasslands. He holds a B.Sc. in Applied Ecology from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Nigeria, and an Erasmus Mundus Joint M.Sc. Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, completed at Université libre de Bruxelles, VUB, and the University of Florence.
As part of his Erasmus mobility, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Malaysia Terengganu in 2020. He was also a guest researcher at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research between 2021 and 2022, where he worked on how pollen subsidies influence aquatic ecosystem functioning.

Beyond academia, Ridwan is currently the project strategist for the Nigerian Montane Forest Project, where he leads a forest-based honey enterprise that blends biodiversity conservation with sustainable livelihoods.