Finima’s Nature Park

Our fore-fathers valued their waterways and swamps and forests as their livelihoods depended on the many and diverse resources there. Their spiritual lives, and their physical health and well being, depended on their knowledge of nature and the natural resources that they used over the centuries in sustainable ways.  In modern times, many people no longer make use of their resource in the same ways, and land has become too often, something to damage or sell. The Nature Park in Finima is a quiet natural place to get away briefly from the hectic life of the towns; a place to reflect on our past and our future, a place to feel the cool air between the dry rain forest floor and the closed canopy above, to feel the fresh breeze and to let the warm ocean lap at our toes, to appreciate the power of the moon manifest by the tides and the periodic appearance of jellyfish.

The core function of the Finima nature Park is to protect plants, animals and the physical nature of the environment so that they can be saved for future generations and so that they can provide the environmental functions of their components (prevent erosion, absorb oxygen, etc.).

             
                                                   FINIMA NATURE PARK                                                       

Visitors are encouraged to visit the park without damaging it in any way and thus rules for entering the Park are enforced: no waste (especially metal, glass, plastic), no vehicle and trekking damage to soil, water, plants, animals; no fires; and no destruction of trees, picking of flowers, killing of animals, collecting of insects or fish – for any reason. Forest guards in the Park are trained to ensure a balance is maintained between animals, plants and the environmental conditions.

 To date, the structure of the Park has been simple and the activities limited to pilot protection and survey activities and complementary community interventions with professional staff providing management, research and advisory services. 

A Nature Park is NOT:

• A zoo for caged animals
• A place for picnics, barbecues and football (except in designated areas)
• A place for racing petroleum-powered vehicles
• A place for swimming, hunting or fishing
• A site for beer parlors and suya stands

   www.nigerdeltawetlands.org/finimanaturepark.htm