Abstract

Nigeria has around 400 quarries and 2000 stone-cutting enterprises, with an annual output of 200 million metric tonnes of unprocessed stone and 30 million square metres of excellent stone. Regrettably, this industry is often linked with air pollution. In this study, two methods were employed to evaluate the impact of such acts on agricultural and plant biodiversity: particulate matter (PM) measurement and a social survey. Significantly high levels of particulate matter, dust, and total suspended solids (TSP) were found in the three sites studied in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. This suggests that there is a lot of dust and air pollution in the locations under study, much more than what is permissible by international guidelines. Additionally, it is shown that quarrying has a significant detrimental effect on plant survival, habitat degradation, and biodiversity. According to the results of the questionnaire, many different plants were impacted or even went extinct as a result of the stone-cutting and quarrying businesses. The most affected plant was the olive, which had an average response rate of 33%. According to the findings, it is strongly suggested to create a green belt around the quarrying area using pollutant-tolerant trees (often with broad leaves) to limit the spread of quarrying dust by intercepting, filtering, and absorbing pollutants