World Wetlands Day: FRIN, SER suggest bold actions to safeguard wetlands across Nigeria

Innocent Onoh

Nigerians have been encouraged to comply with federal and state government-approved building regulations, particularly those impacting wetland conservation in the country.

The Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, FRIN, extended this invitation during a bird-watching event in Lagos hosted by the University of Lagos, UNILAG , Students’ Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration ,SER, in celebration of World Wetlands Day 2025.

It highlighted the importance of preserving wetlands for human health and well-being, citing their role in supporting a variety of plant and animal species that contribute to food, medicine, and other essential resources.

Celebrated on the 2nd of February every year, World Wetlands Day has the goal of raising awareness about the importance of natural habitats, threats to them, and best practices for adoption for their sustainable conservation.

This year’s theme, “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future,” underscores the urgency of bold action to protect these natural habitats for the welfare of all people and future generations.

Speaking after the tour of over five wetland environments within the University of Lagos, UNILAG, to watch the birds, the Director General, of FRIN Professor Zacharia Yaduma, represented by an academic researcher at the institute, Dr. Oluwakemi Osunderu, encouraged Nigerians to do all they can to protect the wetlands because of their enormous importance as habits for plant and animal species used for food, healthcare and others.

“I want us to know that the wetland has lots of advantages, like the production or the provision of medicinal plants. There are quite many medicinal plants that are located in the wetlands. If we go by what the World Health Organization (WHO) said about health in Africa, over 78% of us make use of these medicinal plants. According to studies, some of these medicinal plants are already going into extinction, so we need to protect the wetlands.

“Everywhere we are on this planet earth, the Almighty himself has given us what it takes for us to be in good health and to prosper. So if we begin to destroy what has been provided for our good health, then that means we are jeopardizing even the future of our children. We should protect this plant and also animals by conserving the wetlands.”

During the event in which FRIN and Lekki Bird Club were collaborators, the DG said the nation should take advantage of the global event to take bold actions that will lead to the sustainable protection of wetlands across the country.

“We are congratulating the whole world for the celebration of this 2025 World Wetlands Day. As an organization, we encourage Nigerians to do all that they can to protect the wetlands, because they are a very unique ecosystem.
“As we continue to construct or do our infrastructural development, let there be some demarcation or regulations from the government so that the wetlands are not encroached upon.

“There should be strict compliance with regulations from the government so that we govern the rate at which people are clearing the wetlands, filling them to construct buildings and other activities which are weakening them and making them not habitable for the
animals.”

In his remarks, Associate Professor, Zoology, Dr Excellence Akeredolu, who is the Faculty Advisor and Director at Large ,Society for Ecological Restoration UNILAG Student Chapter Society, emphasized that for sustainable conservation and revitalization of wetlands, there should be continuous on their importance, planting of trees within the areas and proper management of waste so that they do not pollute the ecosystems.

He stressed that “Wetland is important to us. Our future depends on it. The rate at which the wetland globally is declining, especially in Nigeria is alarming. We are losing them fast, and to prevent that, we need to create more awareness so that people will know that they are important. We need to plant more trees and also reduce how we dispose of waste in the water bodies.

“We need to limit the utilization of wetland resources especially in traditional medicine practices. We should look for alternatives. And one other thing that we need to do has to do with water regulation. We need to avoid wasting or wastage of water. The water we use in our houses mostly gets back to the rivers. We should avoid polluting the water directly or indirectly, either with pharmaceutical industry waste effluent”.

About 34 different bird species were identified in the course of the bird-watching exercise, which the environmentalists said was not too bad for a wetland in an urban area.

They opened that embarking on a bird-watching exercise was a major aspect of celebrating World Wetlands Day, pointing out that the more the population of various species of birds sighted at a place, the healthier the place.

Reacting, a member of the Lekki Bird Club, Mr. Adetayo Okunayo, who identified wetlands and their resources as big assets for the promotion of ecotourism, called on UNILAG to fully develop the large expanse of wetland ecosystems around the school into a nature recreational center to boost revenue generation.

He explained that ” the Lekki Bird Club comprised a group of people who are passionate about the environment with a primary focus on the welfare and availability of birds in the environment.
“For a site like UNILAG, fortunately, it’s a bit restricted and protected, so we don’t have environmental degradation the way you might have it in the rest of Lagos. So far today, we’ve recorded about 34 species of birds that we can identify. There are some other species we can identify that will probably be identified later from the pictures. But by and large, given our visit here over the last maybe three years, the health of the environment seems to be relatively stable because the bird populations don’t appear to be dropping. Wewe are now seeing some that we have not seen in the past. So it’s a good thing.

“The most important thing is to take care of the environment. If you take care of the environment, they take care of the birds and the other species that occur in the environment,” he added.

Involved in the birdwatching exercise were representatives of various stakeholders, including the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and primary school children who said they were excited to identify different bird species.

The event also featured an interactive session during which participants had the privilege of gaining more insights about the wetlands and their resources, as well as ways of contributing their quota for their preservation.