article · Global Ecology and Conservation
Mangrove ecosystems supply essential ecological services and resources, including fish habitats, carbon sequestration, coastal stabilisation, and provisions such as food, fuel, and medicine. In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, these habitats face ongoing destruction from human activities, particularly crude oil exploration, oil spills, and over-exploitation. This degradation undermines local livelihoods, weakens coastal stability, and disrupts global climate mitigation efforts. Existing conservation policies in the region exclude community participation and lack co-management structures, leaving major gaps in conservation practices. To address these threats, an inclusive framework for coastal mangrove conservation is outlined. This proposed model focuses on capacity building within local populations to supply low-to-medium-level manpower for hands-on mangrove restoration initiatives throughout the region.
Mangroves protect shorelines, store carbon, and support coastal communities with food, clean water, and raw materials. When industrial activities degrade these wetlands, local populations face severe economic disruption and increased vulnerability to environmental damage. Designing conservation programmes that actively train and involve local residents ensures that wetland rehabilitation efforts are practical, durable, and protective of communal livelihoods.
The proposed conservation framework could inform services in community-based ecological restoration and environmental management. Primary users would include regional environmental authorities, development agencies, and corporate remediation programmes seeking structured co-management models. As this research provides a conceptual framework and policy review rather than a tested technical system, it remains at an early stage of operational readiness and requires field implementation to demonstrate measurable outcomes.
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Mangroves supply various goods and provide invaluable ecological services to humanity. They serve as habitat to different species of fishes, provide a variety of plant products, improve water quality, provide fish and shellfish for local communities, ensure coastal stabilization, provide food chain support for near-shore fisheries, and undertake carbon sequestration. They also serve as source of fuel, medicinal ornaments, and honey for the local population. Despite these socio-economic and environmental benefits of mangroves, its depletion is a continuous practice in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This is caused primarily by anthropogenic activities, including over exploitation, oil spills, and crude oil exploratory activities. These activities have destroyed livelihood structures, affected global warming control measures, and affected the coastal system stabilization of the Niger Delta region. This paper reviews existing literature and analysed identified gaps. The review indicated a lack of participatory framework for mangrove conservation in coastal communities in the Niger Delta despite the desperate need given the level of mangrove degradation in the region. In addition, mangrove conservation policies exclude community participation and negates co-management frameworks for mangrove conservation and protection in the region. This paper reviews the impacts of land contamination on mangrove ecosystems and socio-economic activities of local communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A framework for mangrove conservation in the coastal communities is also proposed, with emphasis on the need to develop the capacity of a critical mass of locals and provide low-to medium-level manpower in mangrove restoration in the Niger Delta region.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e00961
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