By Helen Oji
Abuja
The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed has said that Nigeria is least prepared to meet the challenges posed by man-made pressure on its eco-system.
She said this during the seminar that was held in Abuja.
Amina said: “The costal and marine environment play many different roles in relation to public health, food security, economic and social benefits, cultural values and traditional livelihoods. The state of the environment is often a mirror activities carried out on land. Such activities ranging from industrial and agricultural production to daily domestic routines that affect the health of these ecosystems and of the people that depend on them.”
The minister explained that a high dependence on natural resources has placed tremendous pressure on the ecosystems which increasingly compromised their sustainable use.
According to her, environmental stress as a result of the intensification of human activities along the coast have caused declining fisheries, water quality degradation, physical alteration and destruction of habitats and coastal erosion which have been identified as significant trans-boundary problems.
Other potential threats identified are those of harmful algal blooms, invasive aliens, marine litter, natural hazards, and global climate change to which our coastal environment is highly vulnerable but unfortunately, we are least prepare to meet these challenges.
The minister said, Nigerian coastal and marine environment accounts for over 50% of Nigeria’s economy. It has enhanced the country’s socio-economic development in many ways, including: revenue generation, food production, employment creation, tourism, trade and commerce.
Also speaking, the Secretary of the Abidjan Convention, Mr. Abou Bamba said that the seminar is to strengthen the capacity of regional organisations and national implementing effective environmental governance and policy framework ensuring the protection of marine and coastal habitats and ocean government arrangement.”
