Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/114

People and Resource Use Conflicts serious environmental problem threatening the viability of surrounding ecosystems. The problem of cites as they relate to the human condition is covered in the final chapter. Hence the Ecological Problem is not only a disjunction of ecosystems, but also includes the social problems that are the manifestation of the conflicts that arise from this dysfunction.

10.5 IS THERE AN EASY SOLUTION?

No, there is not, because while scientific solutions do exist the political and short-term economic barriers are huge.

Moreover, a solution to the Ecological Problem is made especially difficult because while some ecological problems are entirely local and can be solved locally, most involve much wider national or international interests and will have to be solved in a wider political arena.


 * involve upstream users such as the textile industry in Kaduna (the Kaduna river feeds into the Niger);
 * conserving fish stocks in the Bight of Guinea must involve all the coastal West African nations;
 * while dealing with global warming concerns every nation of earth.

Nonetheless, undoubtedly the first step towards addressing the Ecological Problem is to find resolutions to local resource use conflicts. However, a resource use conflict is not usually a simple dicotomy.


 * in terms of other possible land uses such as forestry and fish farms;
 * in terms of the potential methods of development such as agro-industrial estates or small farms;
 * in terms of ecological considerations such as the effect of rice development on the area's function in maintaining estuarine and in-shore fishing; and
 * in terms of existing land uses which may be immemorial (such as people's rights to collect periwinkles).
 * in terms of existing land uses which may be immemorial (such as people's rights to collect periwinkles).

Development Methods, an especially important consideration because rarely can a particular development be avoided altogether, however inconvenient it may seem at the time. For instance the Niger Delta must produce more food in the future, but it is important that the right development method is chosen so that  112
 * The ecological nature of the ecozone in which the resource conflict occurs, especially in terms of human ecosystems.
 * Development Trends, in terms of population growth, the growth of towns, the oil industry and other industries, forestry, agriculture, and on-shore and in-shore fishing.