There has been a global outcry over the loss of biodiversity. However, for Nigeria, biodiversity loss is taking place at a scale that is higher than what has been reported.
This was the submission of Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, a professor of Biomonitoring and Restoration Ecology, Department of Fisheries, University of Port Harcourt & Coordinator and Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD).
He was speaking at a media roundtable on strengthening Ocean and Maritime policies, organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Lagos, recently.
According to him, there is a “high loss of biodiversity grossly under-reported due to the poor state of taxonomy specialists in Nigeria and no museum of natural history.
“We are losing biodiversity faster than we know it. Most of our species are undescribed. We cannot continue to use identification keys based on European standards.
Professor Zabey noted that the loss of biodiversity was due to the destruction of mangroves in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
He noted that mangroves which are critical ecosystems of Niger Delta’s inland and coastal environment are under threat.
These threats were said to include overexploitation, oil pollution, reclamation and conversion, dredging and channelisation, untreated effluent discharges, plastic pollution among others.
“However, it is estimated that every square kilometre of mangroves support the production of 90 – 280 tonnes of fish annually,” Professor Zabbey said.
As a solution, he recommended that “a sustainable national plan for mangrove conservation is urgently needed.”
Also speaking at the event, Kome Odhomor, Media/Communication Lead for HOMEF, said that the media roundtable on strengthening ocean and maritime policies was organised “because we believe the media is an integral part of the society and it is through the media this message can go out. We are saying that the ocean must be protected inasmuch as there are policies but they are not being implemented. We need these policies to be implemented.
“We must stop polluting the ocean. We believe the ocean has life of its own. The ocean is not limitless. It is not a place to dump things and walk away. If we do not protect the ocean today, tomorrow it will come back to fight us.”
She added that “One doesn’t necessarily have to give finance alone; but skills, time, or participation can help in advocacy.
“As representatives of our various media, we should become more intentional about protecting the ocean.”
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