Stakeholders in Calabar Demand Urgent Action Against Deforestation, Call for Cultural and Policy Reforms
By Efa Sunday
Environmentalists, civil society groups, and local stakeholders converged in Calabar on Wednesday to address the escalating threats of deforestation across Nigeria. The one-day dialogue, themed “Deforestation: Current Realities, Emerging Threats and Building Resilience,” was organized by We the People, a civil society group committed to environmental justice and grassroots advocacy.
Cross River State is home to the largest share of Nigeria’s remaining forest. According to a report, the State's rainforest was the largest undamaged forest in Nigeria just under 40 years ago. With a total forest cover of 7,920 square kilometers recorded in 1991, the state lost about 3,333 square kilometers of its surface between 1991 and 2008.
Delivering his welcome address, the Executive Director of We The People, Ken Henshaw, lamented the degree of forest degradation ongoing within Cross River State, explaining that threats to forests not only impact climate change but also severely threaten the vast wildlife, driving some of these endangered species into extinction. These challenges, Mr Henshaw attributed to a combination of misguided policies, external exploitation, and regulatory failures.
Speaking further, Henshaw noted that the 2008 government ban aimed at curbing forest activity has yielded almost no result at all, with the communities stripped of their stewardship role, external loggers flooded in, accelerating forest destruction rather than halting it. He said that the promised benefits from international carbon credit schemes failed to materialize, leaving local livelihoods exposed while illegal timber trades flourished and profits benefited outsiders.
“Communities have always been the ones conserving the forest, but the government has propelled the destruction of the forest. In 2008, that rule changed. The government immediately introduced a ban on all forest activity. Community members were stopped from farming in their forests. The State Government was incentivized by the UN REDD programme, aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
“But nearly 15 years later, the carbon credit did not come. And, because communities were disincentivized from protecting their forests, all external elements, loggers and all that came into the forest effectively destroyed the entire forest. Rather than preserve the forest, the 2008 ban led to the highest spate of deforestation ever recorded in Cross River.
“I read a report once that said the current destruction of the Cross River rainforest is probably the highest destruction of rainforest anywhere in the entire world. It’s higher than the spate of destruction in the Amazon. That’s what the states are going through,” he said.
Linking the ongoing forest depletion to climate change impact experienced in Cross River State, Ken Henshaw stated, “the recent windstorms that devastated properties in Calabar, rising environmental temperature, biodiversity loss, disrupted fisheries, community hardship, among others, as some of the immediate impacts of deforestation in Cross River.”
Meanwhile, the keynote speaker, the Director General of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, in his address, examined the colonial roots of deforestation, highlighting the exploitation and deception behind the practice.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, Director-General of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), examined the colonial roots of deforestation, highlighting the exploitation and deception behind the practice. Emphasizing the sacred bond between humans and the forest, describing the forest as “the home of Mother Earth to which we all belong.”
“The forest belongs to Mother Earth, and everyone belongs to the forest. It is time we see forests not as resources to be exploited, but as living entities to be respected and preserved,” he said.
He also advocated the introduction of cultural festivities such as a Forest Festival, featuring poetry, music, dance, drama, and storytelling centered on the forest. He believes that celebrating forests through art and tradition will foster emotional connection and responsibility towards conservation.
Prof. Bassey also challenged the stigmatization of certain forested areas as “evil forests,” asserting that such labels have been used to justify environmental destruction.
“The places that were designated evil forests were places that had deep cultural significance for our people. They were places where certain species were protected, and some communities had certain animals they wouldn’t kill, and they were all in those places.
“And because people paid particular attention to those very unique locations, those who wanted to destroy the foundation of our communities, the culture of our people, they designated them evil forests and set about destroying them.
“So that was one of the major strategies used to deforest or to cut off places where the colonialists didn’t influence over,” he said.
Speaking on agriculture, he strongly condemned mono-culture and cash cropping, which he labeled as “green desert.” According to him, “such farming systems are unsustainable and largely benefit a privileged few while displacing local farmers and threatening food sovereignty.
“Cash cropping is not a national agricultural plan. It is a monolithic, selfish model that promotes colonial dominance,” Bassey warned. “It exports our produce, starves our people, and turns farmers into slaves on their land.”
He therefore called on the government at all levels to support small-scale farmers through friendly policies and support programs, emphasizing the need for food systems that serve local communities first.
Gathering traditional experience on how to tame this menace in the bud, the Clan Head of New Ekuri, Akamkpa Local Government Area, Obol Abel Egbe, said his community imposed a traditional injunction on its forest, thus preventing it from being destroyed by illegal loggers.
The traditional leader, however, thanked We The People for continuously creating awareness on the dangers of deforestation and environmental degradation, saying it has strengthened his community’s resolve to protect their forest against intruders.
STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR GOODWILL MESSAGES
Participants from various sectors, including traditional rulers, civil society organizations, youth groups, and researchers, shared testimonies and strategies for reforestation, forest justice, and sustainable development.
The Board of Trustees Chairman of NGO Volition for Environment, Dr. Odigha Odigha, expressed his delight to be part of the Forest conservation discussion, calling on all to not limit the conversation to a roundtable discussion but to “endeavor to visit the forested communities to gain first-hand experience and realities to drive a better and richer conversation.”
In another goodwill message, the Executive Director of PANDIC-Africa, Mr. Martins Egot, says he understands perfectly the issues and the truth behind the realities, pointing to the harsh realities of life threats meted out to community chiefs by foreign and encroaching individuals. Mr. Egot, while expressing happiness in being a part of stakeholders driving the anti-deforestation discussion, also called on the government to be sincere in their fight against illegal logging, as well as double efforts in protecting the communities against intruders.
On the other hand, Mr. Joseph Ntui, Conservator, Cross River State National Park, called for a critical examination of the issue, urging those concerned to desist from playing politics with the issues. Mr. Ntui added that the National Park Service is greatly concerned, stating that “whatever affects the forest, affects us both locally and nationally.” He therefore thanked the organizers for organizing such an important conference, promising further collaboration between the NPS and WTP.
On the part of the State Government, the Chairman / Chief Executive Officer, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Rt. Hon. George Oben Et hi, represented by the Director of Conservation, Protection and Compliance, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Mr. Ibiang Essien, explained that the State Government, through the Forestry Commission, is doing everything to protect the forest from illegal loggers and miners, hence the recent employment of over 1000 forest rangers.
On the other hand, the representative of the Commissioner of Environment, Mr. Egbe harped on improved “Citizen-Goverment Trust and Relationship”, explaining that the eyes of government cannot be in the entire 196 wards of the State at the same time, hence there is need for citizens to trust government and report any illegal activities spotted within their environment for further action.
COMMUNIQUE AGREED ON AT THE EVENT
Some of the resolutions agreed on by the various stakeholders present at the event include reverting to or including traditional knowledge or means as an additional strategy to confront the threats of illegal logging. The need to deal with the crisis arising from mining. Increasing the forest fines as penalties to deter loggers and other drivers of deforestation
The State Government should create alternatives for generating IGR, rather than solely depending on proceeds from deforestation. Incentivising forest communities via royalties. Creating stringent penalties and a better licensing framework, amongst so many others.
The event concluded with a renewed commitment to protect Nigeria’s forests, support ecological farming, and demand government accountability in safeguarding the country’s dwindling natural reserves.
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