NGOs host forum to reform customary practices for women’s access to ecological resources

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

Some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) led by Community Environment and Development Network (CEDEN) on Tuesday hosted a forum to reform customary practices to improve women’s access to ecological resources in Nigeria in Port Harcourt.

A statement by Jenny George CEDEN’s Project Coordinating Officer said, the event, titled “Consultative Forum on Exploring Customary Law Application to Protect Women’s Right of Access to Ecological Resources/Services/Benefits in Nigeria”.

CEDEN recalled that it had between May and August 2022 concluded a project, titled: “Promoting Informal Environmental Education for Enhancing Farming Practices to Improve Sound Ecological Management in Nigeria” supported by the USA-based Global Greengrants Fund (GGF).

The NGO stated that the event was a sequel to the May-August 2022 project in the Oloibiri area of Bayelsa, which focused on promoting environmental education to enhance ecological and livelihood benefits to rural populations.

The statement quoted Mr Menidin Egbo, CEDEN’s Coordinator as applauding the efforts of stakeholders and participants at the event held National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency’s Zonal Office in Port Harcourt.

“I felt proud, and satisfied, to continue the beneficial effort with stakeholders to discuss related and salient ecological issues today”, he said.

Egbo noted that the subject of the forum ‘represents only one crisis oddity of current practices of individuals and firms that bear negative environmental impacts’.

He said that the GGF-funded environmental education project in the Oloibiri area of Bayelsa revealed this “crisis ‘hot-spot’ issue as one affecting forest resources generally, and women’s livelihoods, in particular.

Egbo observed that development stakeholders cannot continue to ignore the trend of related disturbing problems.

The NGO noted that it collaborated with Engr Olu Wai-Ogosu, Director, Environmental and Chemical Services Company, Habitat Protection, and Sustainable Development Initiative (HAPSDI), Community Environment and Development Network (CEDEN).

The forum was targeted to strengthen stakeholders’ collaboration to enhance rural economic opportunities, improve the economic capacities of women and promote biodiversity conservation for ecological improvement in the South-South zone of Nigeria.

According to the statement, the event also aims to protect forest-based livelihood sources and showed critical challenges affecting women’s right to access to forest resources.

The challenges include pirates, militants, kidnappers’ camps, and related activities that impose a heavy and disturbing burdens on women’s efforts to access ecological services, especially forest resources.

Others are resource access intensive competition between women who are depending on such resources and other forest-resource users, deforestation and corresponding low or lacking environmental education, inter-communal crises, and farm-crop theft by armed gangs amongst others.

The forum was attended by representatives of state ministries of environment, agriculture, and justice including customary court representatives and local council officials.

Other participants were philanthropists, environmental lawyers and scholars, media organizations, Bayelsa and Rivers community representatives, and NGOs, including members of “The Non-governmental Organizations Development Mentoring Forum (NODMF).”