Rapid wetland loss and ‘real estate boom’ increasing flood risk in Lagos

Filed 49m ago · Via Mongabay · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Giovanni Battista Quadrone · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Flash floods disrupted Lagos in July after heavy rains, and researchers say the city's flood risk is compounding due to both climate change and rapid loss of wetlands. A study of the Lekki district found vegetation cover fell 13% and water bodies shrank 6% over the past decade as settlements expanded 10% onto natural land. A broader study covering 1984–2023 found built infrastructure in Lagos grew 38% while forest cover dropped 32% and water bodies fell 11%, eroding the city's natural flood buffer and putting over 60% of urban Lagos at risk of extreme flooding by 2050.

A conservation advocate blamed a real estate boom for the ecological losses, describing ongoing land reclamation and construction around former wetlands and mangroves. Nigeria's emergency agency issued flood alerts for 15 Lagos communities ahead of the July-September rainy season peak, while advocates called for stronger enforcement against wetland encroachment.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Every study says the same thing in slightly different percentages: pave the sponge, get the flood. Calling for 'protected areas' after the reclamation trucks have already rolled through is a fine sentiment, but the wetlands don't care about lip service any more than the water does.

Source: Read the original at Mongabay → Scored: Dreamlike · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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