Demand 02
Protect Rivers, Wetlands, Aquifers and Coastal Ecosystems
We demand urgent protection, conservation, restoration and community stewardship of West Africa's rivers, wetlands, aquifers, mangroves and coastal water systems. West Africa's wetlands provide essential ecological/ecosystem services including groundwater recharge, water purification, flood protection, carbon storage and fisheries. The region contains approximately 165,000 km² of coastal wetlands, 300,000 km² of river floodplains and 850,000 km² of inland valleys. Yet these systems face increasing pressure from oil extraction, mining, deforestation and land degradation, agricultural expansion, waste and poorly regulated development. Between 2009 and 2011, UNEP investigated more than 200 sites and analysed over 4,000 samples, finding extensive contamination of land, groundwater and surface water. We demand stronger environmental standards, independent monitoring, polluter accountability, restoration of degraded watersheds and protection of critical groundwater reserves.
Call To Action
We call on governments to protect, conserve and restore rivers, wetlands, aquifers, mangroves and coastal ecosystems as critical climate and ecological infrastructure.
We call for stronger environmental standards for mining, oil extraction, agriculture and other activities that threaten water ecosystems, including proper enforcement of environmental standards by investing in robust, transparent monitoring systems to ensure continuous compliance.
We call for polluters to be held accountable and be required to fund the restoration of degraded ecosystems, and furthermore, states must develop independent environmental monitoring and transparent publication of pollution data.
We call for communities to have a meaningful role in the conservation, monitoring and restoration of local water ecosystems.
We call for rivers, wetlands, groundwater and coastal ecosystems to be integrated into National Adaptation Plans, NDCs and climate-finance priorities.
We call for stronger regional cooperation to protect shared rivers, wetlands, aquifers and coastal ecosystems across West Africa.
We call for transparent accountability for relief and remediation resources, including public disclosure of corporate liability assessments and allocation of affected communities.
We call for the regulation and monitoring of borehole drilling and groundwater abstraction, a register of boreholes, and enforceable extraction limits based on local aquifer conditions.
We call on governments to address the growing threats to wetland ecosystem protection, such as real estate encroachment, illegal land reclamation, and sand-winning activities alongside mining and oil, by enforcing strict bans on illegal encroachment into wetland buffer zones.
References
[6] https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/food-storage-as-business-opportunity/
[7] https://www.thecable.ng/fao-14-4m-nigerians-facing-food-crisis-amid-insecurity-rising-inflation