ID: 1597
Presenting Author: Alexander Opara
Session: 750 - Bridging the Gap: Empowering Local Governments in Developing Economies to Make Environmental Impact Assessments Understandable and Actionable
Status: pending
This study integrates indigenous knowledge systems into Niger Delta oil exploration EIAs, significantly improving impact assessment processes and establishing resilient, community-driven frameworks
Conventional Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for oil exploration and production in the Niger Delta have marginalised community-held ecological knowledge, resulting in incomplete environmental impact characterisation and limited accountability mechanisms. This study integrated indigenous knowledge systems with scientific methods through a co-designed Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) to evaluate oil development impacts across 70,000 km² and about 30 million residents. We employed participatory research by combining community-based environmental monitoring protocols derived from generations of resource stewardship, spatial analysis of contamination exposure pathways and structured stakeholder validation of monitoring findings. Results revealed that community-identified environmental damage and health exposure pathways preceded or exceeded detection by conventional quarterly/annual technical monitoring cycles, thus reducing observed critical gaps in conventional EIA. By operationalising inclusive, evidence-based Impact Assessment, this study revealed that participatory EIA models enhance both predictive robustness and legitimacy of environmental governance. This novel framework established accountability mechanisms absent from conventional approaches and produced actionable protocols for community-centred monitoring that support adaptive management.
Alexander Opara is a Professor, an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment expert, and Research Director at the World Bank-funded CE-SPESS, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria.
Coauthor 1: Ifechukwu Adieze