Experts have expressed concerns that Cross River State may be heading towards a climate crisis as its pristine rainforest continues to vanish.
According to the experts, available statistics show that 8,686 square kilometres of the Cross River Rain Forest vanished between 1999 and 2014, despite being the most relevant, sophisticated and expensive forest cover owned by Nigeria and West Africa.
A few non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Citizens’ Solution Network, Rain Resources and Development Centre (RRDC), and We The People, together with several local government chairmen, have continued to speak out against the impending hazards of forest destruction
For instance, the Country Director of Citizens Solution Network, Richard Inoyo warned that if nothing is done in the next 10 years to stop forest destruction, Nigeria would face severe environmental and climate crises.
Recent statistics showed that 1,514 square kilometres were lost between 1999 and 2001, 6,102 more were destroyed between 2001 and 2008, and 1,070 square kilometres were lost between 2007 and 2014, for a total of 8,686 square kilometres lost between 1991 and 2014.
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Also, a total of 55 private plantations and roughly 21 savage wood-cutting firms were operating in the Cross River Rain Forest between 2014 and 2022 without any documentation of environmental impact assessments or legal permissions.
Story was adapted from Nigerian Tribune.
