Park rangers working in national parks across the country are to be upgraded to paramilitary workers, 10 years after moves to privatise parks began.

Environment minister Hadiza Mailafia this week inaugurated a committee to steer the commercialisation of national parks, saying it was an "important milestone" in a privatisation process that started over a decade ago.

National parks are listed in the privatisation act of 1991.

The committee was first constituted by the National Council on Privatisation four years ago.

Director-General of Bureau for Public Enterprises Bolanle Onagoruwa said a reform of national parks should critically consider introducing public-private partnerships into ecotourism in parks.

Eco revenue

The committee is to first review and update Nigeria's existing policies on forestry, wildlife and ecotourism.

It will also draw up new policies to conserve and protect parks, according to its terms of reference, and set out the role of national park service in the commercialisation process.

Regulation and legal framework governing the service also come under review.

Mailafia defended the committee's membership as being deliberately designed to articulate a "framework that would ensure active participation of communities' stakeholders in the sustainable management of the parks."

Parks are faced with problems of inadequate and poor infrastructure, land use conflict, low capacity and security.

But Mailafia urged for policies to encourage biodiversity conservation, which, she said, provides the main attraction in the national parks rather than concentrate all efforts on the commercialization of the park.