ERA seeks restoration of polluted Niger Delta ecosystems

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called for the urgent restoration of the polluted ecosystems in the Niger Delta region.

The group also urged government to put in place clear policies and regulations that would ensure the sustainability of our ecosystems in line with the United Nations policies on ecosystem restoration by setting achievable targets for implementation.

In a press statement during the ERA/FoEN event to mark the World Environment Day in Port Harcourt, ERA/FOEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Ojo, stated that, “Restoring the ecosystem will enhance biodiversity, clean polluted rivers and contaminated soil and improve local livelihoods of our people.”

He stated further that, “ecosystem restoration will enhance capacity of our soils and forests to store greenhouse gases rather than the false solutions of carbon capture and storage facilities that do not cut emissions at source and poses grave danger to ecosystems.”

Programmes Director and Administration, ERA/FoEN, Mike Karikpo, explained that ecosystems are dynamic communities of plants, animals and microorganisms interacting with the physical environment, landscapes, lakes, and oceans.

Chairman, ERA/FOEN Board of Trustees, Chief Saint Emma Pii, declared that, “our surest way of escaping the looming danger is to live in harmony with nature.”