By Felicia Imohimi
The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), says it will partner with the Nigeria National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP), Federal Government and other stakeholders to address the impacts of plastic pollution on biodiversity.
Dr Joseph Onoja, Director General, NCF said this on Wednesday in Abuja, at the Multi-Stakeholders Dialogue on Inclusive Plastic Action in Nigeria/National Validation Workshop for Assessment Report on the Impact of Plastic Pollution on Biodiversity.
The event was organised by the NCF in collaboration with the NPAP and the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Onoja said that plastic waste pollution affected both the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem, adding that this inevitably also affected human health as most aquatic animals end up on tables as food.
He said that all hands must therefore be on deck to rid the environment of plastic pollution, as well as guide against further consumption of plastic waste by the citizens through aquatic foods.
He also said that the report on the assessment of the impact of plastic pollution on biodiversity conducted by some experts in six states revealed that in the process of recycling plastic waste into micro plastic, the waste becomes embedded into the tissue of aquatic food like fish.
He said that the dialogue was to address policy gaps, challenges, and opportunities to integrate biodiversity–plastic linkages into national planning and implementation.
According to him, the objective of the workshop is to validate findings on how plastic pollution affects ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots in Nigeria, align the assessment with key national policy frameworks of NPAP, Biodiversity Financing among others.
The NCF director general further said that the event was to address inclusion issues affecting informal waste workers like women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
“The dialogue is to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration and co-design practical, context-specific solutions.
“It is also to Identify clear entry points for integrating biodiversity–plastic pollution considerations into national
and sub-national decision-making,” he said.
Onoja further said that the organisation was collaborating with the Global Action Partnership (GAP) to see how plastic waste pollution affected biodiversity, adding that the involvement of the NCF in the dialogue was basically to assess this.
Also speaking, Mr Aliyu Auwal, Director of Communication and Strategic Partnership, Waste Pickers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN) called for policies that would integrate waste pickers into the formal system.
He said that having such policies would give waste pickers backing thereby improving their welfare and livelihood.
“Waste pickers will be able to move freely within the communities and benefit from health insurances.
“They will also have a cooperative model, which at the end of the day would guarantee a micro insurance scheme, and this will be beneficial at old age,” he said.
(NAN)