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NatureSeverity: Critical

Oil pollution in the Niger Delta

Decades of oil spills have contaminated land, creeks and groundwater in one of the world's great wetlands.

Niger Delta · Nigeria

01 · The problem

What is happening

The Niger Delta holds extensive mangroves and freshwater swamp forests and supports fishing and farming communities. Since oil production began in the 1950s, spills from operational failures, ageing pipelines, sabotage and illegal refining have contaminated soil, water and mangroves. The UN Environment Programme's 2011 Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland found widespread and severe contamination, including drinking water contaminated with hydrocarbons, and recommended a clean-up that could take decades. Nigeria established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to implement the recommendations.

Critical severity. Severe, persistent harm to health, ecosystems or livelihoods. Severity is descriptive editorial metadata summarising documented effects. It is not a measured index or a score.

02 · Causes

Why it is happening

  1. 01

    Pipeline failures and ageing infrastructure

    Corrosion and equipment failure cause spills.

  2. 02

    Sabotage, theft and illegal refining

    Crude oil theft and artisanal refining release oil and smoke.

  3. 03

    Inadequate clean-up

    Past spills were often not fully remediated.

03 · Impacts

Who and what it affects

  1. 01

    Contaminated drinking water

    UNEP found hydrocarbon contamination in water used by communities in Ogoniland.

  2. 02

    Mangrove and fisheries damage

    Oil smothers mangroves and harms fish and shellfish.

  3. 03

    Loss of livelihoods

    Farmers and fishers lose productive land and water.

  4. 04

    Health concerns

    Exposure to hydrocarbons and smoke poses health risks.

04 · Solutions

Documented approaches

  1. Ogoniland clean-up

    Remediation of contaminated sites under HYPREP.

    Expected effectAims to restore land and water over the long term.

  2. Emergency water supply

    Providing safe drinking water to affected communities.

    Expected effectReduces immediate health risks.

  3. Spill detection and response

    Oversight by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency.

    Expected effectImproves response times and accountability.

  4. Pipeline maintenance and decommissioning

    Replacing ageing infrastructure and decommissioning unused lines.

    Expected effectReduces operational spills.

Explore an illustrative What-If

05 · Key indicators

What can be measured

Key assessment
UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland2011

Found widespread hydrocarbon contamination and recommended long-term remediation.

06 · Sources

Where this comes from

  1. [1]Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland (publisher site)UN Environment Programme · Aug 2011unep.org(opens in a new tab)
  2. [2]Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation ProjectFederal Government of Nigeriahyprep.gov.ng(opens in a new tab)
  3. [3]National Oil Spill Detection and Response AgencyFederal Government of Nigerianosdra.gov.ng(opens in a new tab)

Links open the publishing organisation's site. Some point to the publisher's main page, where the named report or dataset can be found.

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