Niger Delta Panel News and Resources
Full Niger Delta Panel Report Published
This week sees the release of the IUCN Niger Delta Panel’s full report generated during their first year of work. The report presents a detailed set of recommendations for appropriate techniques for addressing oil spills in specific ecozones of the region. It focuses on the first two of the objectives set out for the Panel, namely to ‘develop and provide standards and best practice guidance on remediation and rehabilitation’ and ‘encourage uptake of the guidance by SPDC and others’.
The report sets out the Panel’s overall strategy for sustainable remediation of oil spills in the Niger Delta and lays a framework for the other two objectives of the Panel’s work: to ‘develop a strategy to safeguard the Niger Delta’s remaining areas of biodiversity’ and ‘build capacity with local Nigerian organizations’. Now that robust science-based standards, guidelines and best practices have been identified, SPDC can soon start on the planned set of field pilots. The panel will put together long-term indicators to assess SPDC’s implementation of these recommendations.
The Panel is meeting in September to commence consideration of the remaining objectives and to ascertain when field pilots can start and when the Panel can then begin monitoring the implementation of its recommendations.
Niger Delta Panel Report
The IUCN Independent Advisory Panel on Remediation and Rehabilitation of Biodiversity and Habitats of Oil Spill Sites in the Niger Delta Panel has delivered its initial report and recommendations to the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC). The handover of the report and recommendations took place at a simple ceremony with Shell Nigeria senior management and SPDC operational and environmental managers in the Shell offices in Lagos on 17th January. IUCN was represented by Wale Adeleke from the PACO regional office.
The report and recommendations follow 10 months of the Panel’s exploratory work and field assessments some of the company’s oil spill impacted sites across the four broad ecotypes of the Niger Delta. Click here for the executive summary of the report. The contents of the full report will be made available in due course.
SPDC will now review the recommendations and start to revise their implementation programme on selected pilot sites as soon as possible. The Panel will visit the pilot sites with SPDC in September 2013 to start the Panel’s monitoring programme of SPDC’s implementation. By the end of 2014 the Panel will provide its final assessment on the efficiency of SPDC’s implementation and the efficacy of the recommendations. The Panel will provide any relevant modifications to the recommendations at that stage and propose a further monitoring programme to be undertaken by a third party for a further seven years for SPDC to be able to gauge the success of the rehabilitation of biodiversity and livelihoods on these oil spill impacted sites.
Niger Delta Panel – Third Meeting in Lagos
The IUCN Niger Delta Panel held its third meeting at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria, from 19 – 21 November, 2012. Matters considered at this meeting included stakeholders’ expectations of the Panel’s tasks, points arising from Panel’s second meeting, assessments of results from fieldwork conducted in September, a review of outcome success matrix, the generation of a draft recommendation framework, and the need for community engagement in remediation techniques.
Niger Delta Panel begins field visits at Imiringi community near Kolo Creek Flow Station
In early October the Niger Delta Panel conducted the first of its visits to oil spill affected areas in each of four ecotypes in the Niger Delta – lowland forests; freshwater creeks; mangroves; and barrier islands. The Imiringi community is located in one of the oldest oil producing areas in the Niger Delta in the vicinity of Oloibiri flow station where oil was found in 1956.
Discussion Group at IUCN World Conservation Forum
IUCN’s Business and Biodiversity Programme (BBP) organised a discussion group session about IUCN’s Independent Advisory Panel on remediation and rehabilitation of biodiversity and habitats of oil spill sites in the Niger Delta at the World Conservation Forum held at Jeju, Korea.
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Obituary to Prof Alex Chuks Chindah
The IUCN Independent Advisory Panel on the Remediation and Rehabilitation of Biodiversity and Habitats of Oil Spill Sites in the Niger Delta is deeply saddened at the passing of esteemed colleague and friend, Prof Alex Chuks Chindah. Prof Chindah died peacefully at his home in Port Harcourt Nigeria, on 21st August 2012, after a short illness.
Prof Chindah was the expert on Oil Spill Remediation and Hydrocarbon Pollution on the Panel. He was an amiable and deeply knowledgeable scientist whose insightful contributions to the Panel’s work and the preparations for the field work were greatly admired and appreciated by all in the short time he served on the Panel. He had also held the chair of Pollution Studies at the Institute of Pollution Studies, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
New Chair of the IUCN Independent Advisory Panel on Remediation and Rehabilitation of Biodiversity and Habitats of Oil Spill Sites in the Niger Delta
After the tragic loss of our esteemed colleague, friend, and Chair of the IUCN Niger Delta Panel, Prof Emmanuel Obot, in June in the terrible air crash near Lagos, Nigeria, there was an urgent need for one of the Panel members to take on the role of Interim Chair of the Panel. After in-depth, internal consultation with the members of the Panel, Dr Uzo Egbuche agreed to stand in.
Niger Delta Panel meeting
The second meeting of the Niger Delta Panel (NDP-2), was held in Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos, Nigeria, from Monday 30th July to Wednesday 1st August 2012, chaired by Dr Uzo Egbuche (chair ad. interim.) due to demise of the chairman, Professor Emmanuel Obot in the air crash in Lagos in June. Deric Quaile of IUCN facilitated the meeting preparations and logistics; Chris Ichite of NEST served as meeting Rapporteur.
A tribute to Professor Emmanuel Asuquo Obot
The IUCN community is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our colleague and friend Professor Emmanuel Asuquo Obot who died tragically on Sunday 3 June 2012 in the plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria. Professor Obot was the Executive Director of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, an IUCN Member organization, a Steering Committee member of the Commission on Environmental Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and Chair of the CEESP Theme on Social and Environmental Accountability of the Private Sector (SEAPRISE).
Niger Delta Inaugural Meeting
The inaugural meeting of the Independent Advisory Panel for the Niger Delta (referred to as the Niger Delta Panel) was held at IUCN Headquarters, Gland, Switzerland, from 11-13 April 2012. The meeting was chaired by Professor Emmanuel Obot from Nigeria who is also chair of the SEAPRISE Theme (Social and Environmental Accountability of the Private Sector) of the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP).
IUCN Panel to provide recommendations to help restore the Niger Delta
IUCN has recently established an Independent Advisory Panel that will provide scientific recommendations to the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), to help restore the biodiversity of its oil spill sites in the Niger Delta.
Independent Panel to advise on rehabilitation and remediation of oil spill sites in the Niger Delta
The deadline for submissions to the Independent Panel on the Niger Delta has been extended until Thursday 22 December 2011.
Following extensive consultations with its Members and other stakeholders in Nigeria, IUCN has agreed in principle with the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to establish an Independent Advisory Panel to advise on improved rehabilitation and remediation of oil spill sites in the Niger Delta. Oil spills are a critical concern for both people and nature in the Niger Delta, an important wetland comprising a number of sensitive ecosystems with high levels of biodiversity.
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