The Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, participated in the 11th World Conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER2025), which was held from September 30 to October 4, 2025, in Denver, Colorado, United States. The conference provided a platform to showcase HYPREP’s ongoing efforts in ecological restoration, particularly the ongoing mangrove restoration in Ogoniland.
Thus, Prof. Zabbey delivered a presentation on the “Restoration of Degraded Mangrove Shoreline Impacted by Petroleum Hydrocarbon in Ogoniland, Niger Delta, Nigeria,” highlighting the community-based and multi-stakeholder approach of the HYPREP mangrove restoration efforts, as well as the recorded biodiversity recovery and social impacts. HYPREP’s mangrove restoration in Ogoniland is the world’s most extensive restoration of oil-degraded mangroves. The SER2025 reinforces HYPREP’s global visibility, opening up opportunities for strategic partnerships and technical collaborations.
Remarkably, Prof. Zabbey reconnected with Alfredo Quarto, Founder of the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and one of the world’s leading advocates and promoters of sustainable mangrove management. The visibly elated Quarto and Prof. Zabbey hugged profusely during their physical reunion 18 years after they both co-signed the Lampung Declaration at a North-South Consultation on the impact of industrial shrimp farming on mangroves in 2007 in Lampung, Indonesia. The PC and his fellow Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioners had an interactive evening together, while African participants at the conference networked to achieve continental restoration outcomes.
By engaging with the international restoration community through SER, HYPREP continues to align with and observe global restoration standards and principles, ultimately contributing to climate resilience, biodiversity recovery, and sustainable livelihoods in Ogoniland.
