We had a chat with the Founder and Director of the Green Fingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative, Chinedu Mogbo, who is also an Educator and Academic Director of Refiners High School.

His love for nature and animals led him to create the Non-Governmental Organization to advocate for the degradation of the environment and extinction of species critical to the world’s ecosystem.

Greenfingers currently caters to over 50 plant and animal species.

Chinedu is an environmentalist and wildlife enthusiast, we think it’s crucial to shine some light on the outstanding job he is doing at Green Fingers.

What is Green Fingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative about?

Green Fingers exists to protect and conserve wildlife, while also promoting awareness and education about the importance of our natural world. We believe that every individual can make a difference in the fight against habitat destruction, climate change, and wildlife extinction

When was the Organization Founded?

The Greenfingers operation started in October 2012

What is the inspiration behind Starting Green Fingers Initiative?

Well, everything worthwhile always begins with a passion and love for the work. I have always loved animals as a kid and growing up being around the ones I could find only deepened my love for them. I learned about them by watching them on Television but I couldn’t relate much as I never went to any zoo that had a collection of the animals I loved. I would see animals being sold on the street but then I did not think much about it as I was still a child.

After my university days, I discovered the loophole in the country as we did not care about our wildlife and this explains the reasons why animals are found sold everywhere as meat, for traditional purposes, or as pets. This birthed the initiative to protect Nigeria’s species and thus the Greenfingers Initiative was born.

Can you Give Us a General overview of how Green Fingers Operate?

Well, it’s quite a lovely cycle of Rescue – Rehabilitation – Education, and Release.

Rescue – we focus on animals in critical zones such as wildlife markets, caught in human-wildlife conflicts, hawkers, or in terrible conditions and we get them out of these areas

Rehabilitation – animals coming into the sanctuary are catered for and are given medical treatments and are catered for till they are better. Some animals are badly damaged and sometimes they become permanent residents of the sanctuary

Education – at the same time – we educate children and adults likewise on the animals we have here in Nigeria, the need for conserving them, and why they need to be conserved

Release – the animals that cannot spend a long time within the sanctuary are released into protected spaces.

How many animals have been rescued so far?

We have rescued over 300 animals spanning over 60 different species

How Can animal/nature lovers Support this Cause?

Doing the work as a private individual is always the most difficult task. Because it is not a profit-making venture, but rather an NGO, sourcing the funds required to support the wildlife is quite a herculean task. We encourage wildlife lovers and nature lovers to make connections with the animals we rescue, adopt or support the work we do. A little financial token, donations of animal food, materials, and items such as animal carriers, food plates, etc. can really go a long way in supporting the cause.
Also, we recommend that you follow us on our social media handles and share our work also. Follow Green Fingers on Instagram and Twitter.