Lagos: Lekki Conservation Centre threatened by urban expansion
Sand-filling and new estates around the 78-hectare reserve are altering water flows and damaging the forest.
The Lekki Conservation Centre, one of the last protected green spaces in Lagos, is under growing pressure from the rapid expansion of Africa's largest city.
Established in 1990 by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, the 78-hectare reserve of wetlands and forest serves as a centre for biodiversity conservation, environmental education and ecotourism. Its best-known feature is a 401-metre suspended canopy walkway, some 22 metres above the forest floor, described as the longest in Africa.
Project manager Stephen Aina said the encroachment of human activity was among the centre's most serious challenges. Residential estates and land reclamation are bearing down on the wetlands, and sand-filling has altered natural water flows. Water is now pooling inside the reserve, damaging facilities and trees.
Visitors praised the site. Sarah Omorodion said she was particularly proud of its upkeep, "something that is usually lacking in Nigeria". Abanj James Kejin, who supervises the canopy walk, said the structure gives visitors access to all four layers of the forest, from the floor to the emergent layer.
The centre's future, conservationists say, will depend on whether protection can keep pace with urban development.