Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, has announced plans to link Ogoni communities to carbon credits, following the ongoing mangrove restoration and preservation efforts by local people in Ogoniland.
Carbon credits which are permits that allow the release of a specific amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, can be bought and sold on a carbon exchange and are used to offset emissions in one place by preventing or capturing an equivalent amount of emissions elsewhere.
When linked, Ogoni communities can sell carbon credits from reforestation and mangrove restoration efforts to companies or governments seeking to offset their emissions; and would also access international funding and support for sustainable livelihoods as well as sell their carbon credits on international markets.
Speaking while planting mangrove seedlings in Bomu Creek as a joint action for nature in partnership with the Nigerian Environmental Society, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, said the action was part of activities to mark the 2024 World Environment Day which would come up on June 5th.
Zabbey explained that HYPREP was already building the capacity of Ogoni communities including fisherfolks, to enable them to develop skills and expertise in carbon project development and monitoring, particularly in the area of mangrove restoration and preservation.
He said, “Mangrove restoration is important for our country because it is a nature-based solution to climate change. Mangroves are among the best carbon sinks, they sequester carbon five times more than the tropical rainforest.
“So, in partnership with the Nigerian Environmental Society, we came to Bomu Creek where HYPREP is restoring 560 hectares of former mangrove areas to carry out a joint action for nature.
“HYPREP is providing leadership in mangrove restoration, and we are providing a manual that will guide sustainable mangrove restoration in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, and even for countries along the coast of West Africa.
“The community people are taking the lead in this mangrove restoration while HYPREP is behind the scenes, so the communities are taking ownership of the project. They have been trained on how to plant and monitor mangrove nurseries because they are the ones supplying mangrove seedlings to the contractors and this contributes to their livelihoods significantly.
“What HYPREP will do is link communities like these to carbon credits, because since mangroves sequester a lot of carbon, they can sell the credit, to encourage more communities to protect the restored mangroves, we want to link them to carbon credits so they can be motivated.
“We are doing approximately 2000 hectares of shoreline clean up and 560 hectares of pilot mangrove restoration, so like in Bomu here, there are areas where 10 contractors are flushing to reduce the level of oiling to enable us to plant mangroves.”
Also speaking, Chairman of the Nigerian Environmental Society in Rivers State, Sir Amos Daminabo Atuboyedia, emphasized the importance of starting the 2024 World Environment Day with a focus on land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience, with mangrove planting in Ogoniland.
“Our theme of this activity is mangrove planting, restoring the degraded land with mangroves. Since we don’t have the issue of desertification and drought in Rivers State, but environmental degradation from oil spills, so we are partnering with HYPREP to plant mangroves since they are already on ground in Ogoni, so we can have it on record that we were part of this project.
“We have a whole line up of events to mark the 2024 World Environment Day, which we will be climaxing on Wednesday, 5th June 2024 with a symposium focused on blue economy and development in Rivers State.”
