The Senate has thrown its weight behind the Free2Blue Niger Delta campaign to generate one billion mangroves, create one million blue jobs, and clear 600,000 tons of marine waste by 2035.
The flagship campaign, also known as BlueMyCreek, is a comprehensive regional initiative aimed at reviving Nigeria’s Niger Delta mangrove wetlands and fostering a just, regenerative blue economy across the region, in commemoration of the 2025 International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.
Senator Dickson Seriake, Chairperson, Nigerian Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate, applauded the initiative, insisting that creeks are not wastelands but are lifelines that must be preserved.
“We affirm that protecting wetlands is protecting our collective future. Through BlueMyCreek, we are investing in a Niger Delta where environmental justice meets economic opportunity,” he noted.
Senator Ireti Heebah Kingibe, Deputy Chairperson, Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate, remarked that wetland loss has, for too long, meant job loss, food insecurity, and cultural erosion.
Mr. Victor Wilkinson Agih, Project Director, Free2Blue AfricaBlue Justice Through Finance and Policy Reform, explained that the initiative is a people-powered blueprint for wetland resilience and dignity-centred growth.
“The mangroves we restore today will protect our coastlines tomorrow. BlueMyCreek sets a new standard for what the just blue transition must look like. It is not just a campaign—it is a movement. BlueMyCreek aims to restore more than mangroves; it seeks to restore agency to communities long left behind by extraction-driven development,” he stressed.
As the world races to meet SDG 14 and the Paris Agreement goals, BlueMyCreek places the Niger Delta at the forefront of global wetland restoration. Its methods and mission reflect Africa’s commitment to sustainable ocean economies and climate adaptation, and echo the spirit of the COP30 Presidency’s Just Transition Framework for coastal communities.
“The wetlands are our birthright, and we are rising to defend and regenerate them. BlueMyCreek is more than a campaign — it’s an intergenerational pact for restoration, prosperity, and peace,” said Mr. Pat Kuro Obiene, Coordinator, Free2Green Rivers.
The Coordinator of the Ecocitizen Nigerdelta Initiative, Pastor Nature Dumale, assured that “the BluemyCreek initiative transforms community-based mangrove restoration and Regeneration programs into Blue economy engines of Growth in the Nigerdelta.”
The BlueMyCreek campaign is not just about environmental cleanup—it is a bold, community-led strategy to restore damaged ecosystems, reclaim lost livelihoods, and build a resilient blue economy. It operates at the intersection of ecology, equity, and economic revival. It is directly supported by national and global blue economy frameworks, including Nigeria’s Blue Economy Policy and Strategy (2023), The African Union’s Blue Economy Strategy (2020–2030), and The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030).
Source: Guardian.ng
