Mr. Menidin Egbo, Coordinator of the Community Environment and Development Network (CEDEN), has called for the restoration of extinct species lost to oil pollution around Nigeria’s pioneer oilfield. He made this call on Saturday during a workshop tagged “Restoring Lost Species” in Otuabagi community, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Otuabagi is home to Oloibiri Well 1, where oil was first struck in commercial quantity in 1956, launching Nigeria into the global oil market. Egbo said the current project seeks to restore the raffia palm forest and support women’s livelihoods through the sustainable extraction of non-timber forest products in the degraded Ekpadio swamp forest.
He explained that the project will reintroduce raffia palms, reform local eco-regulatory practices, enhance environmental governance, promote eco-resource documentation, and strengthen women’s role in ecological preservation.
Egbo noted that the project builds on a 2022 initiative funded by the Global Greenland Fund (GGF), which raised ecological awareness across 11 communities of the Olei Clan in Ogbia LGA. That project focused on environmental education among agrarian communities and promoted sustainable ecological management.
The new 2025 initiative, he said, was inspired by the Otuabagi Women Farmers Association (OWFA), founded by 12 local women following the impact of the 2022 project. They are now working to register a cooperative to formalize their conservation efforts.
Also speaking at the workshop, Mrs. Gloria Alagbogu emphasized the environmental degradation in Bayelsa due to decades of oil exploration, gas flaring, and weak regulation. She warned that this has led to the destruction of mangroves, swamps, and rainforests, and triggered conflicts over land, water, and livelihoods.
Mr. Jeremiah Dagana, Deputy Director of Climate Change at the Bayelsa Ministry of Environment, commended CEDEN and its partners for the initiative. He noted that Bayelsa’s forest ecosystems face severe threats from logging, oil activities, and poor environmental practices.
