Nigeria contains the third largest area of mangroves in the world. The most common species, Rhizophora racemosa, is the pioneer at the edge of the alluvial salt swamp while R. harrisonii is dominant in the middle of the zone and Rhizophora mangle on the inner edge. Other species are found in stunted and shrub form, such as Avicennia africana (syn A. nitida) and Laguncularia racemosa. Associated with the main mangrove formation is strand vegetation with Conocarpus erectus and other woody species that grows at the edge of the swamps, mainly near the sea.
FAO, UNEP. 1981. Tropical forest resources assessment project. Forest resources of tropical Africa. Part II: Country Briefs. FAO, UNEP. 586 pp
The Wood Explorer nd. Nigeria. http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/Country%20Data/Nigeria/home.html .
Year |
Area |
Source |
Trend |
Methodology/Comments |
1965 |
540 000 |
Allen, J.R.L. 1965. Coastal geomorphology of eastern Nigeria: beach ridge barrier islands and vegetated tidal flats. Geologie en Mÿnbouw, 44 (1) p: 1-21 |
Cited in: Commission of the European Communities. 1987. Mangroves of Africa and Madagascar. Conservation and reclamation: The Mangroves of Madagascar. CML, Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Leyden, 24 pp. This figure seems to be an under estimate | |
1977 |
999 400 |
Geomatics International Inc. 1996. The Assessment of Landuse and Vegetation Changes in Nigeria Between 1978-1993/95. Environmental Management Project (EMP) |
X |
Remote sensing analysis |
1980 |
973 000 |
FAO, UNEP. 1981. Tropical Forest Resources Assessment Project, Forest Resources of Tropical Africa. Part II: Country Briefs. FAO, UNEP 586 pp. |
Probably based on Allen, 1980 (see below) | |
1980 |
972 826 |
FAO. 1980. Land use in Nigeria By Allen P.E.T, Field document NIR/77/009. Ibadan, Nigeria, 27 pp. |
Remote sensing. The document provides the breakdown for all districts. | |
1982 |
670 000 |
Hughes, R.H. and Hughes, J.S. 1992. A Directory of African Wetlands. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK/UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya/WCMC, Cambridge, UK. 820 pp. |
Analysis of the map provided by Bartholomew, 1982. No complete reference provided. | |
1985 |
709 800 |
Moses B.S. 1985. Mangrove swamps as a potential food source. In: Balafama Wilcox, H.P. and Powell, G.B., eds. Proceedings of the workshop on mangrove ecosystems of the Niger delta. University of Port-Harcourt, Nigeria; pp. 170-184. |
Cited in: Adegbehin, J.O. 1993. Mangroves in Nigeria. In: Diop, E.S. 1993. Conservation and sustainable utilization of mangrove forests in Latin America and Africa regions, Part II - Africa. p. 135-155. Mangrove Ecosystems Technical Reports vol.3 ITTO/ISME Project PD114/90. Okinawa, Japan, ISME. 262 pp. The "Year" is the publication year. | |
1987 |
920 000 |
Altenburg, W. 1987. Waterfowl in West African Coastland Wetlands: a summary of current knowledge of the occurence of waterfowl in wetlands from Guinea-Bissau to Cameroon and a bibliography of information sources. Zeist, The Netherlands: Stichting WIWO (Werkgroep International Wad-en Watervogelonderzoek). |
Cited in: Fisher, P and Spalding, M.D. 1993. Protected areas with mangrove habitat. Draft Report World Conservation Centre, Cambridge, UK. 60pp. Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year. | |
1987 |
970 000 |
Commission of the European Communities. 1987. Mangroves of Africa and Madagascar. Conservation and reclamation: The Mangroves of Madagascar. CML, Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Leyden, 24 pp. |
Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year. It could be an approximate figure based on Allen , 1980 (see above) | |
1991 |
3 238 000 |
Snedaker, 1991. Personal communication. |
Cited in: Fisher, P and Spalding, M.D. 1993. Protected areas with mangrove habitat. Draft Report World Conservation Centre, Cambridge, UK. 60pp. Original data provided by Federal Department of Forestry, nd. and Dr Oguntala, A.B. n.d. The breakdown is provided by Snedaker, S.C. 1991. Personal communication. The "Year" is the publication year. | |
1995 |
997 700 |
Geomatics International Inc. 1996. The Assessment of Landuse and Vegetation Changes in Nigeria Between 1978-1993/95. Environmental Management Project (EMP) |
X |
Remote sensing |
1995 |
1 051 500 |
Saenger, P. and Bellan, M.F. 1995. The Mangrove vegetation of the Atlantic coast of Africa. Universitè de Toulouse Press, Toulouse 96 pp. |
Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year. | |
1997 |
997 000 |
Beak Consultants Ltd. Canada. 1998. Forest Resources Study of Nigeria. National Report Vol. 1 Overview (Draft) |
Secondary reference, no primary source provided. It could be based on Geomatics International Inc. 1996 (see above). | |
1997 |
1 113 400 |
Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F. and Field, C.D., eds. 1997. World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 178 pp. |
Map analysis. Map undated, no scale is given. The "Year" is the publication year. | |
2000 |
1 050 000 |
Aizpuru, M., Achard, F., and Blasco, F. 2000. Global Assessment of Cover Change of the Mangrove Forests using satellite imagery at medium to high resolution. In EEC Research project n 15017-1999-05 FIED ISP FR – Joint Research center, Ispra. |
The national figure has been extrapolated from the ‘Warri area’ case study based on remote sensing analysis. |
