Mangrove Restoration in Nigeria

    Web Soil Survey (usda.gov) I completed my Web Soil Survey of a farm near where I grew up in New Jersey. I have never completed a web soil survey before, and the technology was very new and interesting to me. I did not know that we had technology that could tell what kind of soil was in any area selected in the U.S. It even broke down the area selected into very specific parts. It was so precise and accurate. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  Coping with Climate change and Environmental Degradation in the Nigeria Delta, Southern Nigeria (priceofoil.org)   Nigeria - Climatology | Climate Change Knowledge Portal (worldbank.org) The Niger Delta region experiences a tropical climate characterized by heavy rainfall, especially during the monsoon months from April to October. The area receives annual rainfall ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 millimeters, contributing to its lush, diverse ecosystems. However, the extensive oil extraction and associated pollution have significantly impacted the region's climate. Gas flaring and oil spills release large amounts of greenhouse gases and pollutants, exacerbating climate change and causing local environmental degradation. These activities have disrupted weather patterns, increased temperatures, and led to more frequent and severe flooding, which further complicates the region's vulnerability to climate change.

Mangroves and Communities Affected by Oil Spills along the Niger Delta  In doing this research, I was astonished to find so many areas and communities affected by oil spills along the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Many articles I read stated that some of these communities have lived with these issues their entire lives. They are living on rivers of oil. It is in the air they breathe and the water they drink and bathe in. The wildlife in the area as well as the fish have been deeply impacted, and the fishermen cannot provide for their families. In some areas, it is estimated that it will take between 20-30 years to restore the areas. The water continues to flow and flows into the Atlantic Ocean, likely impacting the wildlife there as well. Restoration efforts continue, but there will be no resolve in the foreseeable future.

     Like many things, I think it is important to look at biodiversity as a system. If your viewpoint is always that of what is right in front of you, you may perceive only the issues that present themselves. More often than not, you will not see the root cause of these issues. Finding the root cause takes more understanding and systems thinking. It is the ability to look at all of the components that uphold a part in a system, and being able to find the deficiency in them that makes a person good investigator.      Taking this same knowledge into biodiversity, on any scale, will give you what's needed to understand the importance of biodiversity. I can break this down further. All living systems that affect the ocean can affect all living systems of the rainforest. All living systems in the dessert play a role in affecting the ocean. This can be difficult to see. Every biological being is an actor in their own environment. Some can say that they play ...

(Sunday, 2022)                          Mangroves are a major player in biodiversity. Healthy mangroves can help to support not only the marine life that exists within them, but also wildlife in the area, birds both local and migratory, and humans as well. Healthy mangroves help to mitigate the effects of storms and flooding, they provide an amazing habitat for many living organisms, and they are very efficient in carbon dioxide conversion making them a proprietor in the mitigation of climate change. Restoring these areas are not easy and ensuring their sustainability in order to support a biodiverse habitat for all potential inhabitants is even more the challenge, but in doing so you can be assured that it is a resource well spent.           Since the 1950’s Nigeria has been plagued with oil drilling by large gas companies like Shell and Chevron jus...

  Biodiversity. Biodiversity is the conjoining of many different species both flora and fauna within an ecosystem. This can be measured on a micro or macro level. We often think about biodiversity based on what we can see and forget the important living things in an ecosystem that we can't see such as bacteria, fungi, and other micro-organisms. All of these, as well as the flora and fauna, make up the biodiversity in an ecosystem and play their own special part in the system, whether it is visible to you or not. They live in different  symbiotic  ways including mutualistic, parasitic, in commensalism, and in competition. All are dependent on one another in some form. That is what creates a biodiverse system and is the essence of biodiversity.