World Migratory Bird Day: Nigeria joins global efforts to secure safer flyway for migratory species – EnviroNews

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On the occasion of World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, October 10, 2026, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) joins the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds and 14 other partners across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to announce the launch of LIFE EV Safe Return, an international project co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme.

The project will advance the recovery of one of Europe’s most threatened birds of prey – the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) – by strengthening protection across its breeding grounds in the Balkans, its migration routes, and its wintering areas in Africa, including Nigeria.

Every autumn, Egyptian Vultures leave the Balkan Peninsula and travel over 5,000 kilometres to their wintering grounds in Africa. Their journey across three continents exposes them to severe threats that are also familiar in the Nigerian context: illegal poisoning from poisoned baits used to kill predators, poaching, and electrocution on unsafe power infrastructure.

In parts of West and Central Africa, vultures are also persecuted for use in practices associated with belief-based use, a major driver of vulture decline in Nigeria where all 7 vulture species are now threatened. A bird protected at its nest in Bulgaria may still die thousands of kilometres away in Africa. Its survival therefore depends on coordinated flyway conservation.

Why This Matters for Nigeria

The “LIFE EV Safe Return” is an umbrella project, and through the implementation of its goals, which include reducing poisoning, making power lines safer, and tackling illegal taking, killing and trade of vultures in Nigeria, other species across the flyway will be protected, including the Critically Endangered Hooded Vulture and other migratory and resident species.

Once widespread across the Balkans, the Egyptian Vulture has disappeared as a breeding species from several countries. Today, only around 50 breeding pairs remain across Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Albania. After more than three decades of decline, the Balkan population is stabilising, with numbers in Bulgaria beginning to increase thanks to sustained collaboration. With such a small population, the loss of even one bird along the flyway, including in Africa, can slow recovery.

LIFE EV Safe Return, which will run until 2031, builds on the achievements of the Egyptian Vulture New LIFE project, winner of the LIFE Citizens’ Prize at the 2026 LIFE Awards.

As the project implementer in Nigeria, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation will:

• Lead community engagement in key vulture landscapes to address poisoning and belief-based use, working closely with community leaders, traditional medicine practitioners, hunters, pastoralists and enforcement agencies;
• Support the strengthening of national policies to strengthen vulture conservation locally;
• Conduct awareness and education programmes targeting schools, youth and local authorities, contributing to the project’s target of engaging over 4,000 pupils across five countries;
• Support flyway-level monitoring, data sharing and rapid response coordination with BirdLife Africa and other partners to identify mortality hotspots.

Speaking on the project, Dr Volen Arkumarev from BSPB, Project Manager of LIFE EV Safe Return, said: “The first signs of recovery show that our efforts are making a difference. For a bird travelling more than 5,000 kilometres between the Balkans and Africa, this means tackling threats along its entire migration route. For the first time within our conservation programme, targeted action will be undertaken in Africa – including in Nigeria and Chad – two of the species’ key wintering countries.”

“For NCF, this project aligns with our long-standing commitment to vulture conservation in Nigeria and its advocacy for stronger wildlife protection laws and enforcement against wildlife poisoning and illegal wildlife trade,” said, Dr. Joseph Onoja, Director General of NCF.

With its distinctive white plumage and bright yellow face, the Egyptian Vulture is unmistakable. Revered as sacred in Ancient Egypt and celebrated in folklore across its range, protecting it means preserving both an essential ecological service as nature’s clean-up crew and a living connection to our shared cultural heritage.