The team showed how decades of spills, leaks and pipeline ruptures in the Niger Delta have turned waterways to sludge, killed vast tracts of mangrove forests and wrecked the health and livelihoods of local communities.
Their research puts the loss of mangrove forests at 5,644 hectares per year over the last eight years alone – the equivalent of 28 GAA pitches every day.
Publication of their findings, in the scientific journal Remote Sensing, comes as court proceedings begin in a major legal case against one of the oil giants operating in the area, Shell, alleging environmental damage and breach of rehabilitation commitments.
The Niger Delta covers much of southern Nigeria and has been extensively drilled for oil by international companies for 70 years. It is one of the most ecologically diverse regions on earth and is home to 30 million people from 40 ethnic groups who are largely dependent on farming and fishing. Since the 1950s, their lands, fishing grounds and the mangrove swamps that enrich and protect them have been under sustained pressure from the oil industry.
It is estimated more than 13 million barrels of crude oil have escaped into the environment with devastating impacts.
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of the Niger Delta as pollution-induced deforestation is visible in the dark burnt-orange regions. Photo: Jemima O’Farrell
The research was led by scientists at the Ryan Institute at University of Galway working with counterparts at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria.
While much data has already been gathered on the ecological destruction in the region, the team’s aim was to bring far greater precision to the process.
They developed a method of remote sensing using satellites, radar and imaging technology more commonly used by doctors to create three-dimensional images for cardiovascular diagnostics and artificial intelligence.
Principal investigator, Dr Aaron Golden said: “We’re going from science-fiction to science fact here.”
I hope this technology can help advocate for the affected communities
Combining the technologies enabled them to map complex oil pipeline networks covering 9,000 square kilometres and pinpoint where crude oil spills have caused the most acute damage.
It allowed them to highlight specific locations in the vast network that were in need of immediate intervention and restoration.
They were also able to identify several new pipeline sites near the coastal town of Bille that show evidence of significant oil spill damage yet to be formally reported.
Lead author of the study, Jemima O’Farrell, said it was exciting to see the different techniques working together and producing such important findings.
“I hope this technology can help advocate for the affected communities and that more earth observation-derived insights will be integrated with policy and environmental protection in the near future,” she said.
Dr Abosede Omowumi Babatunde, of the University of Ilorin, said the study would help local communities and NGOs understand better the extent of the problem and work more effectively to protect the mangroves.
“Our research will also empower them to independently hold the authorities and petroleum producers to account,” she said.
