Chapter 14: Ecosystem services: legal issues on Nigeria’s wetlands

Abstract

This chapter deals with the Nigerian legal framework relevant to wetlands as an ecosystem service. At the outset, it is necessary to define concepts such as ‘ecosystem’ and ‘wetlands’. In Nigeria, ecosystems provide general and environmental services such as flood attenuation, water purification, soil stabilisation and erosion reduction, food, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation. In this functional context, an ecosystem can be defined as:1