The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mangrove Marathon 10 Kilometres Awareness Run, Jerry Chidi has called on the government, multinationals and other stakeholders to get involved in the course of saving the Nigeria mangrove.
This call was made shortly after the climax of the “10 Kilometres Awareness Run/Fun Walk, Warri 2022”.
Addressing newsmen at the Warri Township Stadium, Chidi said that the mangrove was one of the nature-based solutions to tackling climate change and also an Ecosystem that was unique to the Niger Delta region adding that it ranked about fourth in the world.
He added that fishers depend on resources from the mangrove noting that without it, no fish in the river or sea would survive.
According to him, mangrove served as breeding grounds for fishery and other aquatic lives like the periwinkles, oysters, crayfish, and others adding that it was a critical aspect of our ecosystem that support livelihood.
“The challenges we are facing in the environmental degradation is as a result of lack of awareness so to raise awareness about the environment, we thought it fit to use Sport as a vehicle to educate, pull people together and get them aware about certain critical issues about the environment.
“This time, we are focusing on the Mangrove and that is why we called it Mangrove Marathon.
“Marathon in the sense that depicts the tenacity and doggedness that is needed to face the challenges in the mangrove environment, especially in the Niger Delta.
“This Sport is what we are using to bring awareness so that people will be more cautious and also take proactive actions to tackle some of these challenges,” he said.
The CEO said the mangrove in the Niger Delta faced a lot of challenges such as oil pollution and invasive species and called for urgent action to save the mangrove ecosystem.
Aside from creating awareness, Chidi said the group also engaged in planting mangrove trees in communities noting that it had planted 6000 mangroves in Rivers in collaboration with the Rotary Club and Rivers Government.
Twenty-six-year-old Hamadjan Sondi from Cross Rivers finished first in the male category with 32 minutes while Charity Agofure (28) from Delta clinched the female category with a record time of 37 minutes.
“Going forward, we want to do same in Delta, sensitise them on what they can do to plant these mangrove trees in areas where water recede during the low tide,” he said.
Chidi thanked the people of Delta for hosting the maiden edition of the project adding that subsequent events would be hosted by any of the 10 mangrove states in the country.
Also, the Director-General, Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Muhtari Aminu-Kano said that the essence of the event was to educate the people that mangrove was not just plants but also vital to society.
Aminu-Kano, who was represented by Daniel Okakoso said that the mangrove protects the shorelines thus preventing flooding among others.
No fewer than 200 athletes across the country participated in the event which kick-started at Mosheshe Estate on Airport Road and finished at the Warri Township Stadium.
The event was sponsored by: the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Falcorp Mangrove Park, Niger Delta Snapshot, and CMADI among others.
