ANALYSIS OF THE HADEJIA-NGURU WETLANDS ECOSYSTEMS OF NIGERIA USING DPSIR FRAMEWORK-REVISITED
Abstract
The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands is a floodplain in northern Nigeria that supports the livelihood of a population of over 1.5 million people in terms of fishing, farming and grazing of livestock. However, the location of the wetland at the edge of the Sahelian zone is one of the major reasons of attracting immigrants to the wetland and creating many challenges to the dwellers. This paper uses the Drivers-Pressure-state-Impact and response (DPSIR) model and analyzed issues of concerns that revealed some needs of the population namely food, livestock grazing fishing, fuelwood and other wild fruits (Drivers), and the increasing pressure of immigrants on the current population has exerted pressures due to subsequently increasing needs of the above resources that resulted in the negative change of state (physically, biologically and chemically) of the wetland ecosystems, which in turn created impacts/ecosystem issues in the region including soil degradation, reduced size of the wetlands, biodiversity loss, emission of CO2 and CO, and water pollution due to misuse of agro-chemicals. The DPSIR analysis in this study has also suggested ways to ameliorate the identified problems that comprised development of policies on regulation of fishing, awareness on conservation, holistic afforestation project, dredging of water channels, clearing Typha grass and other invasive species, arresting and prosecuting poachers, establishment of protected areas and buffer zone, training and empowering fishermen on modern aquaculture, providing financial grant to alleviate poverty etc.
Keywords
Hadejia-Nguru, Wetlands, Ecosystems, Nigeria, DPSIR Framework-Revisited