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![President Bola Tinubu with Tajudeen Abbas, and Speaker of the House of Representatives [Twitter:@NgrPresGCFR]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "President Bola Tinubu with Tajudeen Abbas, and Speaker of the House of Representatives [Twitter:@NgrPresGCFR]")
The foundation said it was part of its efforts in contributing to the protection of the nation’s threatened species such as the Cross River gorillas found in wildlife sanctuaries in the state.
This is contained in a statement by the Head of Communication Oladapo Soneye, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Friday.
Soneye said the donation was to boost ongoing research on the conservation of the gorillas, in partnership with other organisations.
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He said the donation was made to some of the partners of NCF including Cross River National Park, Cross River Forestry Commission and the University of Calabar (UNICAL).
“The equipment which will aid research include digital cameras, desktop computers, laptops, projectors and projector screens, video conferencing gadgets, 65-inch flat screen Hisense TV, and professional Video Conference Cameras.
“Others include MC3000 USB HD PTZ auto rotate tracking voice camera, digital microphone array, walkie-talkies, still cameras for GPS handsets and drones.
“The television and computer equipment will support video conferencing for meetings at the UNICAL while the camera traps, drones and other equipment are for the student's research projects,” he said.
He noted that the Cross River Gorilla Initiative commenced in 2022 and had awarded scholarships to two masters and a doctorate student all in the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management in UNICAL.
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He said the students had resumed their three-month internship programme with NCF to gain practical experience in the use of field equipment, conduct field surveys and familiarise themselves with project communities.
According to him, the students will also understand the role of gender in forest resource management with reference to gorilla conservation.
Similarly, Emmanuel Owan, Head, Calabar Office of NCF, said to achieve the project goals, a two-day training on gender and conservation was held recently at the University of Calabar.
Owan stated that the essence was to give participants a robust understanding of the importance of gender in the conservation of Cross River gorillas and its applicability in field research.
NAN reports that the Cross River gorilla is a critically endangered subspecies of the western gorilla and lives in small areas of highland forest spanning the border of Nigeria and Cameroon.
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It is estimated that there are at most 300 Cross River gorillas left in the wild due to threats associated with habitat loss and hunting.
![Amb. Michael Freeman donating water machines at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday in Abuja [NAN]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Amb. Michael Freeman donating water machines at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday in Abuja [NAN]")