Businesses Key to Biodiversity Protection, Stakeholders Say

 Bennett Oghifo

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s conservation and sustainability space have underscored the critical role of the private sector in halting biodiversity loss, stressing that protecting nature is no longer a “feel-good” obligation but an economic and business imperative.

This position was highlighted at a stakeholder engagement convened by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in collaboration with Natural Eco Capital and Business for Nature, as part of efforts to domesticate and implement the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by 196 countries under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022.

Speaking at the event, Director-General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Dr. Joseph Onoja, said the global framework requires each country to develop national instruments to safeguard biodiversity, known as the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Nigeria, he noted, has updated and validated its own plan, but effective implementation demands a “whole-of-society and whole-of-government” approach.

According to Onoja, businesses are both contributors to biodiversity loss and a critical part of the solution. “This gathering is to look at how the business sector will be involved in biodiversity protection. We are losing biodiversity, and businesses depend on nature for raw materials and ecosystem services. For sustainability and profitability, operations must become nature-positive,” he said.

He stressed that beyond policy discussions, the focus must be on implementation. “Policies are easy to discuss, but implementation is a different ball game. If biodiversity is not protected, businesses are also at risk. That reality alone should incentivise the private sector to act,” he added.

On his part, Chief Executive Officer of Natural Eco Capital, Eugene Itua, explained that the Global Biodiversity Framework explicitly calls on businesses, especially large corporates, to assess, disclose and report their impacts and dependencies on nature. He said Nigeria’s updated NBSAP provides the roadmap for business engagement.

To support this, Itua disclosed that Natural Eco Capital, working with NCF and supported by Business for Nature, has established a Business Advisory Group for Biodiversity to help companies align their operations with national and global biodiversity goals. He added that the initiative complements the Federal Government’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative recently launched in Abuja.

“There is no business on a dead planet. All businesses depend on nature and also create impacts on it. We need an ecosystem that supports multinationals, transnationals and SMEs across the value chain,” Itua said, noting that cumulative impacts from small and medium enterprises are also significant.

Also speaking, Africa Lead for Business for Nature, Oluwasoto Ajayi, described the engagement as a crucial step toward implementation of the global framework. She said Business for Nature, a global coalition with over 100 partners, has been advocating for strong recognition of business roles in biodiversity protection.

Ajayi said Nigeria presents a strong opportunity to develop positive case studies on how businesses can contribute meaningfully to national biodiversity action plans. “Many companies are active on climate and sustainability, but biodiversity is still emerging as a major ESG issue. Today, they are learning about biodiversity, regulations and the policies needed to scale action,” she said, adding that the engagement would culminate in a comprehensive business action plan.

The event also featured a keynote address by Dr. John E. Onyekuru, who emphasised that biodiversity underpins life, livelihoods, culture and economic development in Nigeria. He noted that biodiversity provides essential raw materials such as timber, non-timber forest products, medicinal plants and ecosystem services that support agriculture, health and industry.

Onyekuru highlighted Nigeria’s rich ecosystems, which support rural livelihoods, poverty alleviation and traditional occupations ranging from wood carving and canoe building to bee farming, fish processing and herbal medicine. He also drew attention to the untapped potential of ecotourism, wetlands and protected areas, as well as the deep connection between biodiversity and Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

According to him, the interaction between culture and biodiversity has earned Nigeria international recognition, including the listing of the Osun-Osogbo Grove as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Participants agreed that safeguarding biodiversity is central to economic resilience, business sustainability and national development, stressing that coordinated action by government, businesses and civil society is essential to translating policies into measurable outcomes.