The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Adult Environmental Education in South South Nigeria

This study investigates how indigenous ecological knowledge can be effectively integrated into adult environmental education programmes in South South Nigeria, contributing to the scholarship on culturally responsive environmental adult education. Indigenous communities in the Niger Delta possess extensive knowledge of local ecosystems, environmental change indicators, and sustainable resource management practices developed over generations. This knowledge is rarely integrated into formal environmental education programmes, which predominantly draw on Western scientific frameworks. This study uses an ethnographic and participatory action research design in eight communities in Cross River, Rivers, and Bayelsa States. Indigenous environmental knowledge is documented through elder knowledge holder interviews and community ecological knowledge mapping exercises. The documented knowledge is then collaboratively integrated into environmental education modules, which are piloted with 120 adult learners and evaluated for learning outcomes and cultural relevance using pre-post knowledge assessments and focus group feedback. Findings reveal that indigenous knowledge-integrated environmental education modules produce significantly higher participant engagement and environmental action commitment compared to standard Western-framework modules. Knowledge retention is stronger when learning content connects to participants' lived experiences and local ecological contexts. The process of co-developing modules with knowledge holders also strengthens intergenerational knowledge sharing as a secondary benefit. The study concludes that indigenous knowledge integration is both practically feasible and educationally superior for environmental adult education in the Niger Delta. It recommends a community-based knowledge documentation initiative as a precondition for culturally responsive environmental education programming.

Keywords: indigenous knowledge, environmental education, adult education, Niger Delta, cultural responsiveness.