Biodiversity

Law, Policy and Governance

Usha Tandon, Mohan Parasaran, Sidharth Luthra

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781138543249
• eBook ISBN: 9781351337083
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Law
• Index: Social Sciences

Conservation of biodiversity is a fundamental concern towards securing a sustainable future. This volume argues that despite various domestic and international policies and legal frameworks on biodiversity conservation — be it forest, wildlife, marine, coastal, etc. — their implementation suffers from many deficiencies. It explores the factors that hinder effective implementation of these policies and frameworks. It also analyses existing laws, both international and domestic, to identify inherent problems in the existing legal system. The book maintains that careful adherence to established procedures and protocols, public awareness, filling the lacuna in legal framework, and a strong political will are sine qua non for effective conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development. The volume defends the protection of traditional knowledge and participation of indigenous communities along with reinforcements of intellectual property in this regard. It also commends the role played by the Indian judiciary, especially the Supreme Court of India and India's National Green Tribunal for the preservation and enhancement of natural resources by applying established as also evolving principles of environmental law.

This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of environmental studies, development studies, policy studies and law related to biodiversity and conservation.

Part I

Biodiversity conservation

Issues and challenges

1
Sustainable wetlands and biodiversity conservation

Nigeria’s Lagos Lagoon in focus

Erimma Gloria Orie

Wetlands are land areas covered with water or where water is present at or near the soil surface all year or varying periods of the year. Wetlands exist in every country and in every climatic zone, from the polar regions to the tropics. Wetlands are some of the planet’s most diverse and productive ecosystems, representing around 6% of the Earth’s land area – some 570 million hectares, of which 2% are lakes, 30% bogs, 26% fens, 20% swamps and 15% floodplains.¹ They are distributed around the world and cover an area that is 33% larger than the USA. Throughout history, they have been integral to human survival and development and are valued for their contribution to ecological balance and biodiversity.² Notable functions of wetlands include flood control, groundwater recharge, coastal protection, sediment traps, atmospheric equilibrium and waste treatments as well as biological productivity, which provide nurseries for aquatic life and habitat for upland mammals like deer.³

Although one of the world’s most important environmental assets, wetlands have been progressively lost and degraded from human activities. The rate of their loss is known to be greater than for any other type of ecosystem.⁴ A review of 189 reports of change in wetland areas finds that the reported long-term loss of natural wetlands averages between 54% and 57% but loss may have been as high as 87% since 1700 AD.⁵ There has been a much (3.7 times) faster rate of wetland loss during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, with a loss of 64–71% of wetlands since 1900 AD.⁶ Over 50% of the world’s wetlands have disappeared in the last century⁷ while about 60% of European wetlands were lost before the 1990s⁸ due to increased anthropogenic interference.⁹ Although the rate of wetland loss in Europe has slowed, and in North America has remained low since the 1980s, the rate has remained high in Asia where large-scale and rapid conversion of coastal and inland natural wetlands is continuing. The situation is the same to an extent in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Nigeria is richly endowed with abundant wetlands ecosystems, most of which are located in the Niger, Benue and Chad basins. These wetlands represent about 2.6% of the country’s area of about 923,768km².¹⁰ Nigeria has about 14 identified major wetlands.¹¹ These include Sokoto−Rima, Komadugu Yobe, Makurdi, Cross River, Lower Niger, Upper Niger and Kainji Lake, Middle Niger−Lokoja−Jebba−Lower Kaduna, Niger Delta, Benin−Owena, Lake Chad, Badagry and Yewa creeks, and Lagos Lagoon.¹² The Lagos Lagoon is one of the most extensive wetlands in the southern region of Nigeria. Both Lagos and Lekki Lagoons have a combined size of 646km².¹³ The only western outlet for the two lagoons is through the Commodore Channel which links Lagos Lagoon to Bight of Benin/Atlantic Ocean. With direct connection to the sea, salinity is generally higher in Lagos Lagoon and the waters are brackish while the Lekki Lagoon is of freshwater.¹⁴ The Lagos Lagoon is found in 10 out of the 20 Local Government Areas (LGA) in the State. These include Epe, Etiosa, Ibeju/Lekki, Ikorodu, part of Amuwo−Odofin, Apapa, Kosofe, Lagos Island, Mainland and Shomolu LGAs.

In spite of the acclaimed benefits or ‘ecosystem services’ that the wetlands provide to the environment, the Lagos Lagoon has witnessed more than 96% loss due mainly to anthropogenic factors. In addition, like most of the Nigerian wetlands, it is not on gazette, neither is it well documented.¹⁵ There is also no specific national law regulating the maintenance of wetlands. For example, in the entire country, only 11 wetland sites are recognized as Ramsar sites,¹⁶ both inland and coastal.¹⁷ Even the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s largest and richest biodiversity region, is yet to be recognized and placed on gazette as a Ramsar site.¹⁸

The implication is that these wetlands are therefore at the risk of degradation and biodiversity loss resulting mainly from human activities which will be exacerbated by climate change. Degradation of wetlands through land development, poor water management, etc. reduces the capacity of wetlands to provide significant ecosystem services. The water regime of such a wetland can be so altered that the land can no longer support the wetland vegetation and maintain hydric soils. For example, if a wetland is lost, most if not all of its wetland functions are also lost.¹⁹ Thus, the loss of the Lagos Lagoon will have dire consequences on the food chain²⁰ and health of the entire agrarian populace of Lagos State and beyond. There is therefore the urgent need for establishment and proper enforcement of regulation on the protection of wetlands to ensure sustainable use and conservation of the Lagos Lagoon wetlands.

I. Conceptual clarification

A. Wetlands

The most widely accepted definition of wetlands is as provided in the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) Convention on Wetlands.²¹ The convention defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.” It “may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands.”²² Wetlands as broadly defined by the Ramsar convention include lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans. They are not exclusively land or water environments. However, in general wetlands are those areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated habitats.

The thrust of the Convention is for contracting parties to²³:

1. i work towards the wise use of all their wetlands;
2. ii designate suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of International Importance (the ‘Ramsar List’) and ensure their effective management; and
3. iii cooperate internationally on trans-boundary wetlands, shared wetland systems and shared species.

In line with the Convention, therefore, Nigeria is expected among other things to designate suitable wetlands for the Ramsar List, and ensure their effective management while also working towards the wise use of all their wetlands.

B. Biodiversity

Biodiversity denotes the variability of living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part. It encompasses the variety of all forms of life on earth, which provides the building blocks for human existence and our ability to adapt to environmental changes in the future.²⁴ Biological diversity involves genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. So many of these unique ecological characteristics and ecosystems, such as mountains, mangroves, wetlands, savannas, rainforests and transitory sites for migratory species, are vital for sustainable environment, hence the need for conservation.

C. Conservation

The word conservation means the preservation from destructive influences, natural decay, or waste; the preservation of the environment, especially of natural resources; and the maintenance of essential ecological processes and life-support systems, the preservation of genetic diversity, and the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems.²⁵

As used in this monograph, conservation is the protection, preservation, safeguarding, maintenance and management of a thing to secure that thing (in this case, the Lagos Lagoon and by extension Nigeria’s biodiversity) for future generations.²⁶ The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) signed in June 1992 is probably the most all-encompassing international agreement on biodiversity ever adopted. Nigeria was among the 153 countries that signed. The essence of the convention is to ensure that there is a balance between use and conservation to achieve sustainability/sustainable use.

D. Sustainable/unsustainable use

The exploitation of natural resources in a manner that will ensure their availability for the future is what is referred to as sustainable use. On the other hand, unsustainable use is the use of a thing in a manner that cannot be sustained, that can render it extinct or unavailable for use for the next generation. This may be due to factors like over-extraction of natural resources, over-harvesting, wrong techniques like peeling off bark, or cutting down or uprooting a tree, pollution of wetlands, large-scale poaching and random hunting of all species. In the context of biodiversity in Nigeria, unsustainable use of biodiversity and forest products is the norm. Most people in rural areas depend in part on the extraction of resources like seafoods from the swamps and riverine areas. In the urban areas, the tendency is to convert and/or develop every available land for monetary gain. As population increases, extraction increases until there are no resources left to harvest. Even more troubling is the widespread over-extraction of seafood products purely for profit.

II. Role of wetlands in conserving biodiversity

Wetlands are indispensable for the countless benefits or ‘ecosystem services’ that they provide humanity. The goods and services that wetlands provide to humanity are numerous and fundamental to meeting some of our most basic needs namely:

A. GDP booster

It has been estimated that the ratio of conservation costs to Nigeria was about 3.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) while the aggregate contribution of biodiversity to the GDP was about 46% in 2001.²⁷ In 1990, it was estimated that the monetary value of other benefits realized from conservation was put at well over $6 billion. With the increase in bio-prospecting and bio-discovery activities in Nigeria and the growth in biotechnology-related industries that utilize indigenous genetic materials as feedstock, the 2002 estimate for the benefits of biodiversity to Nigeria was over $8 billion per annum.²⁸ The strategic plan therefore provides for a significant increase in the national expenditure on biodiversity conservation in order to ensure the continuous availability of these resources.

B. Carbon sequestration

In addition, wetlands act as carbon ‘sinks’ and are therefore a fundamental asset in our efforts to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.²⁹ It has been submitted in some quarters that wetlands may account for as much...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Notes on contributors
• Preface
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part I Biodiversity conservation: issues and challenges
• Part II Biodiversity governance and diplomacy
• Part III Convention on Biological Diversity, ABS and TRIPS Agreement
• Part IV Genetic engineering: problems and prospects
• Part V Judicial responses
• Part VI The way forward
• Table of cases
• Index