Niger Delta

Engaging in oil activities poses a significant risk of impacting the environmental and social values in a landscape. The aim of the remediation effort is to restore the site’s environmental and socio-economic  values. In natural habitats, this is about the recovery of biodiversity and the ecosystem functioning. This field manual aims to guide the design and implementation of biodiversity monitoring (recovery), following remediation of an oil spill.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is facing severe environmental challenges due to widespread oil extraction activities, resulting in recurring oil spills and adverse effects on biodiversity, ecosystem services and livelihoods. This report documents the implementation of protocols of the IUCN Niger Delta Biodiversity Technical Advisory Group (BTAG) on two impacted sites at Adibawa Well 8 S/L wellhead in Joinkrama, Rivers State, and Adibawa North-East 1 wellhead in Tien Biseni, Bayelsa State, both located in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.

This report presents the main findings and recommendations of the IUCN-Niger Delta Panel, regarding the sustainable remediation and rehabilitation of oil spill impacted sites in the Niger Delta. It has been prepared for the Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd of Nigeria (SPDC) and represents the Panel’s first year of work. It therefore focuses on the first two of the four objectives set out for the Panel, namely to ‘develop and provide standards and best practice guidance on remediation and rehabilitation’ and ‘encourage uptake of the guidance by SPDC and others’.

This report is the second in a series that describes IUCN’s work with independent scientific and technical advisory panels. By sharing these Stories of influence, we hope not only to demonstrate the influence that the Niger Delta Panel has had on the remediation of oil spills and biodiversity management in the Niger Delta, but also to illustrate how these intiatives can serve as examples for addressing conservation and development challenges elsewhere in the world – highlighting that collaboration is central to finding long-lasting solutions to today’s pressing challenges.

In 2013, the IUCN Niger Delta Panel published the report Sustainable remediation and rehabilitation of biodiversity and habitats of oil spill sites in the Niger Delta. In this report, it was recognised that the critical step in the sustainable rehabilitation of biodiversity and habitats of oil spill sites in the Niger Delta is the prevention and/or quick and efficient clean-up of the oil spill in the first place. In respect to biodiversity itself, the 2013 report recommended follow-up analyses.

This report represents the best available understanding as to what has happened to the environment of Ogoniland – and the corresponding implications for affected populations – over many years of oil industry operations. It provides the government, stakeholders and the international community with invaluable, baseline information on the scale of the challenge and priorities for action in terms of clean-up and remediation.