NCF Condemns Illegal Logging in Ekuri Forest, Cross River State, Calls for Urgent Government Action

It is indeed a very worrying development that a community forest that has been conserved over the years, globally recognized, and used as a sample plot for international interventions like REDD+, and recognized as a community protected area, is being subjected to illegal logging.

We want to use this opportunity to call on the Cross River State Government to please protect this landscape, because it is not just a forest for Cross River State but a globally recognized high tropical forest that directly serves the needs of the Ekuri people.

In many cases of illegal logging, local communities are taken advantage of and given peanuts, while illegal loggers go in and pilfer their heritage. Meanwhile, what the loggers benefit is far more than what the community gets in return. Also, the environmental hazards that accrue to the community are far greater than whatever gains they derive from the sale of their wood. Apart from the loss of biodiversity, illegal logging makes it difficult for the ecosystem to provide the services it usually bestows on the environment. Some areas become prone to landslides, which destroy arable crops and lead to the loss of lives and property.

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation stands against any form of illegal logging taking place in the Ekuri forest, a community protected landscape. As an organisation, we have worked closely with the community to protect the forest and ensure that such a rich natural habitat is secured for generations to come, and this we would continue to do.

Some months back, forest elephants were sighted in the Ekuri forest. It is worthy of note that forest elephants are a critically endangered species, with an estimate of less than 300 individuals left in the country. Without deliberate intervention to stop illegal logging, this threatened species could be further put at risk. This should be a concern to every well-meaning citizen of Nigeria, especially those in Cross River State.

We are calling on the government to urgently look into the situation of illegal logging in the Ekuri forest, Cross River State, so it can be halted.

Dr. Joseph Onoja

Director-General

Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)