Deep within the rainforests of Cross River State, where mist clings to ancient limestone caves and endangered wildlife navigates a shrinking habitat, Nigerian conservation ecologist Iroro Tanshi has forged a precarious but successful peace between nature and necessity. For years, the region’s biodiversity has been locked in a battle with devastating wildfires, often sparked by the highly people whose livelihoods depend on the land.
In 2024, Tanshi was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize—often described as the “Green Nobel”—for her pioneering work in wildfire prevention and the protection of southeastern Nigeria’s fragile ecosystems. While the award brought international acclaim in San Francisco, the foundation of her success was built in the smoke and ash of the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, a 24,700-acre refuge that serves as one of Nigeria’s last strongholds for gorillas, chimpanzees, and drill monkeys.
Tanshi’s approach is distinct because it rejects the traditional “fortress conservation” model, which often pits wildlife protection against local human needs. Instead, she has integrated meteorological science with ancestral knowledge, transforming rural farmers from unwitting catalysts of destruction into the primary guardians of the forest. Her work demonstrates that saving a species often requires first saving the livelihoods of the people living beside it.
The Tragedy That Defined a Mission
The turning point for Tanshi came in 2016, a year marked by both a scientific triumph and a personal heartbreak. While exploring the caves of Cross River with a team of local assistants, Tanshi captured evidence of the short-tailed roundleaf bat—a tiny, endangered mammal that had not been documented in Nigeria for 45 years and was feared extinct in the region.
At the time, the species had not been seen globally for five years, with estimates suggesting fewer than 1,500 remained in the wild. The rediscovery was a career-defining moment, yet the celebration lasted only two weeks. A massive wildfire tore through the sanctuary, engulfing thousands of acres and forcing Tanshi and her team to flee their campsite with cloths pressed to their faces to survive the suffocating smoke.
The aftermath left Tanshi with a profound sense of “shame and loss,” as she grappled with the reality that one of the only known populations of the bat’s habitat had been scorched. This trauma shifted her focus from pure research to active prevention. She realized that documenting a species was meaningless if the ecosystem supporting it could vanish in a single afternoon.
Bridging the Gap Between Tradition and Climate Change
Tanshi’s journey began far from the rainforest, in the industrial oil-producing hub of Warri, Delta State. Growing up in an environment dominated by oil exploration and limited green space, she developed a fascination with wildlife through documentaries, which eventually led her to study environmental science. This academic background allowed her to see the systemic link between environmental degradation and community vulnerability.
In 2016, she co-founded the Small Mammal Conservation Organisation (SMACON), where she now serves as co-executive director. As she began studying wildfire management, she looked toward global models, researching U.S. Forest Service techniques and fire-monitoring systems. However, she discovered that the primary driver of fires in Cross River was not a lack of will, but a shift in the climate.
For generations, the approximately 27,000 residents across 16 rural communities had used controlled bush burning to clear land for cassava, cocoa, and plantain. Traditionally, these fires were manageable. But erratic rainfall and hotter, drier seasons—hallmarks of climate change—had rendered traditional knowledge obsolete. Fires that once stayed low to the ground were now spiraling into uncontrollable crown fires.
| Year | Event/Achievement | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rediscovery of Short-tailed Roundleaf Bat | Confirmed species existence in Nigeria after 45 years. |
| 2017 | Launch of Zero Wildfire Campaign | Introduced science-based fire risk monitoring. |
| 2022-2025 | Forest Guardian Deployment | Responded to 74 fire outbreaks before they escalated. |
| 2024 | Goldman Environmental Prize | Global recognition for community-led wildfire prevention. |
The Zero Wildfire Framework
To combat the unpredictability of the changing climate, Tanshi launched the Zero Wildfire Campaign in 2017. The initiative replaced guesswork with data. SMACON installed weather stations across the communities to monitor humidity, wind speed, and temperature in real-time.
The system operates on a simple, color-coded warning scale:
- Green: Safe conditions for controlled burning.
- Yellow: Caution; high risk of fire spread.
- Red: Extreme danger; all burning prohibited.
To ensure this data reached those without smartphones or internet access, Tanshi employed town criers. On “red” days, gongs would sound through the villages before dawn, alerting farmers to postpone their burning. Complementing this early warning system is a force of 50 “forest guardians”—local residents trained and equipped with GPS devices, radios, and water backpacks to patrol vulnerable zones and suppress small fires before they become catastrophes.
Dismantling Superstition and Expanding the Model
Tanshi’s work extended beyond the physical fight against fire to a psychological fight against superstition. In many parts of Nigeria, bats are viewed through the lens of folklore as harbingers of doom or agents of witchcraft. To protect the short-tailed roundleaf bat, Tanshi had to change the narrative.
Through storytelling, guided field visits, and classroom activities, SMACON introduced children and adults to the ecological importance of bats. By framing the animals as vital components of the ecosystem rather than symbols of evil, Tanshi fostered a sense of local ownership over their survival.
The success of this model is best captured in the words of a local cocoa farmer who told Tanshi, “You saved my farm.” For Tanshi, this highlighted the symbiotic nature of her mission: by protecting the bats, she protected the livelihoods of the people. This intersection of human survival and wildlife conservation is now being viewed as a scalable blueprint.
Looking ahead, Tanshi and SMACON are exploring the expansion of the Zero Wildfire model to other biodiversity hotspots facing similar climate threats, with potential implementations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Indonesia. The next phase of the initiative involves refining the weather-monitoring network to provide even more granular, village-level data to further reduce the risk of accidental forest loss.
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