Biodiversity and Oil Activities in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

The variation among living organisms, encompassing species, genetic and ecosystem diversity is known as Biodiversity. It includes all species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the ecosystems and ecological processes of which they are part, covering all forms of life on earth. Oil activities have for over fifty years, been carried out in the Niger Delta, without recourse to the environment resulting in detrimental impacts on the environment with concomitant effects of biodiversity. This study investigates the impact of oil activities on biodiversity in the Niger Delta, deploying an eclectic approach in which, structured questionnaire schedule and focus group discussion were used to obtain relevant data. It concludes that the adverse effects of oil activities on the environment have had concomitant negative impacts on biodiversity in the Niger Delta.