A Nigerian ecologist won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her work protecting endangered bats.
When Iroro Tanshi found a colony of short-tailed roundleaf bats in a cave in Cross River State’s Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in 2016, it was the first time the species had been seen in the area for almost 50 years. However, just days later, a major wildfire swept the park, endangering the species she had only just rediscovered.
Since then, Tanshi has set up a major wildfire monitoring and prevention system that informs locals what days are safe for burning land, which is necessary to clear bush for farming. Previously, small fires had often escalated due to increasingly difficult-to-predict weather conditions. “The wildfire problem was also a community problem — that was the hook,” she told the BBC.
Tanshi has discovered 14 new species of bats in the park — including one that has never been seen anywhere else.