Chief Edwin Ogar from the Ekuri Forest in Nigeria passed away earlier in the year. Snowchange has produced together with the Chief’s daughter, Nlohojie Ogar, a major documentary session available to all. It was filmed during the week before Chief’s passing. All in all this 2,5 hour documentary summarizes the cultural and environmental work of one of the most celebrated champions for the environment out of Africa.
What is the film about? This is the documentary of Chief Edwin Ogar’s life, his struggles, experiences, sacrifices, work and accomplishments.
Who was Edwin and why does this matters?
Nlohojie Ogar, producer of the new film, comments:
“Chief Edwin Ogar was a distinguished leader from the Ekuri Community in Cross River State, Nigeria, renowned for his dedication to environmental conservation and community development. Chief Edwin Ogar played a pivotal role in preserving the Ekuri community forest, a 33,600 hectare expanse of biodiverse rainforest. He was instrumental in resisting threats to the Ekuri forest, notably opposing the construction of a six-lane superhighway proposed in 2015 by the then State government that would have traversed the community’s land. His advocacy efforts led to the rerouting of the highway, safeguarding the forest and the livelihoods of the Ekuri People. Beyond his community, Chief Edwin contributed to global discussions on indigenous-led conservation, emphasizing the importance of integrating traditional knowledge with scientific approaches to address biodiversity crises. Chief Edwin earned international recognition, including the UNDP Equator Prize in 2004.“
Snowchange staff first met with Edwin in early 2010s and the common goal of preserving and supporting the Ekuri Forest emerged. Later we started, after defeating the Super Highway in an alliance of a large number of NGOs, to support the rewilding and restoration plans for Ekuri forest. Despite the large cultural and ecological distance between the boreal forests where Snowchange operates and the Ekuri Forest we found common unity on the importance of communities in the forest and making sure these cultural landscapes are preserved.
In 2020s Snowchange worked with Edwin to get the Ekuri registered as an Indigenous and Community-Conserved Area under the WDPA / UNEP registry. Tero Mustonen, Chair of Snowchange, comments:
“Many people asked about this film during production. The process was rather unexpected. We had been phoning in the Autumn 2024 with Edwin, but then there was the winter break and all. Suddenly in January 2025 out of nowhere I got an idea of documenting, should he so choose, the oral histories and life work of Edwin given his amazing lifework. He was very keen and in rather good health. As we wrapped up the sessions he passed unexpectedly away the next day. Wow. Well, here you go Edwin – voices from the forest, as you saw them! I thank personally the filming crew and especially Nlohojie and the whole family for all the months of work of getting this done.”
The new film is available here.