Cross River State, Niger Delta: Background

Project Background
Cross River is located in southern Nigeria. The forests of Cross River State are extremely significant for the whole of Africa, particularly in terms of the diversity of plants, birds, butterflies and animals. Over 90% of Nigeria's rainforests have been lost and nearly half of the remaining 10% are found in Cross River, where LENF's project was located.

Living Earth Nigeria Foundation selected five communities with which to work to support community forestry initiatives, developing a viable solution to deforestation and rural poverty.

For community forestry projects to succeed there needs to be strong co-operation and a multi-disciplinary approach from a wide range of different stakeholders. Living Earth is committed to building mutually beneficial relationships to achieve the shared goals of sustainable community-based natural resource management.

Project Objectives :

• To develop the capacity of villages in Cross River to implement community forest initiatives.

• To strengthen the capacity of NGOs and local government authorities to support village organisations implementing forestry initiatives.

• To influence national and international forestry policy and practice.

An important element of the programme is the building of partnerships between local environmental NGOs and the private and public sectors to effectively address community needs. By creating these models, LENF will enable the communities of Cross River to benefit many more communities elsewhere in Nigeria in the development of their own programmes.

In Cross River, forests exist within three legal categories:

1. The Cross River National Park consists of two separate divisions, the Okwangwo Division in the north and the larger Oban Division in the south. No exploitation of any resource is allowed.

2. Forest reserves were established by the colonial administration on community land. The State Forestry Department is now responsible for managing forest reserves.

3. Community forests are managed and used by people of the communities under a traditional tenure system. The livelihood of these forest communities is dependent on the land, timber and many forest products, e.g. rattan, bush mango, known as non-timber forest products (NTFP).