- Ecological needs, so that the viability of ecosystems is maintained.
- Human Rights needs: because Local People have a right to a healthy environment and to the maintenance of the local ecosystems of which they are a part.
However, with the best will in the world, any solution is bounded by a sea of ignorance about ecosystems and resource cycles. Usually decisions are based on easy short-term pragmatic solutions without any consideration of even the immediate, let alone the longterm, ecological implications of these decisions. But a solution has to be found because the Ecological Problem will not go away: the human population will continue to increase; oil and gas will continue to be extracted; and the demands for fish, timber, palm oil and rice will continue to grow. This ERA guide cannot provide the solutions but it aims to reduce the sea of ignorance. The natural ecosystems have been explained and in the following chapters the nature of the resources of the Niger Delta as a human ecosystem will be defined.
