UNDP Traces Poverty In N’Delta To Environmental Degradation

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has blamed the root causes of poverty and conflicts in the Niger Delta on environmental pollution and degradation.
National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Biodiversity Conservation Programme, Dr Matthew Dore said this at the project steering committee meeting recently in Port Harcourt.
Dore said the long years of oil exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta has led to the massive displacement of the people from their sources of livelihood.
According to him, though oil exploration has brought in billions of dollars into the coffers of the government, the millions of animal and plant species which have become extinct in the region have not been addressed.
The coordinator explained that the interest of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in the region is not on the oil, but to preserve certain plants and animals species in the Niger Delta that cannot be found elsewhere in the world.
“If some of these animals and plants become extinct, future generations will not see them again” adding that the United Nation’s interest, is the development of a process that will ensure that the region’s biodiversity is preserved for the future.
Dr Dore also said that the organization also intends to ensure that communities in the region play a major roles in the conservation programme, stressing that the UNDP will provide both the fund and the technical expertise for the programme .“All groups in the Niger Delta must be represented. This year, Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) will be signed with both communities and state governments in the region he said.
Meanwhile, the Elele Community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State has called for the assistance of the UNDP in the preservation of the Mgbuigwe-Igbo Iyarara Wetland.
Mr. Emmanuel Amadi who spoke on behalf of the community at the meeting decried the continuous encroachment on the Wetland.
He said that, if the situations not checked , the Mgbuigwe Igbo Iyarara Wetland will be completely destroyed.
Also speaking, Mr. Egeonu Innocent from Umuakurulobite, Etche Local Government urged for effort to reafforestate the Kpakpu/Ohia Ojo forest as some plant and animals species in the forest have become extinct.