Stakeholders argue that without urgent legislative reform, stronger enforcement architecture, and community-driven forest governance …
By TheInvestigator
Civil society organisations and environmental experts have intensified calls for a comprehensive review of the Cross River State Forestry Law, 2010, warning that weak sanctions, enforcement gaps, and outdated legal provisions are accelerating deforestation and forest-related crimes in the state.
Speaking to journalists in Calabar on Wednesday, Executive Director of We The People, Ken Henshaw, said the current legal framework governing the Cross River State Forestry Commission is too weak to deter offenders and, in some cases, effectively incentivises illegal logging.
Highlighting the economic and ecological stakes, Henshaw stressed that forest conservation and management are not only environmental imperatives but gateways to global economic opportunities, including climate finance and ecotourism.
He criticised the existing penalty regime as grossly inadequate.
“Illegal logging and wildlife trafficking continue to undermine conservation efforts. Weak penalties and enforcement gaps have allowed these activities to persist. The current law allows for penalties that could act as incentives for forest crimes to continue. For instance, if a truck is seized during the commission of a forest crime, the penalty is a meagre N200,000, a sum most illegal loggers will gladly pay and continue their crime,” he added.
According to him, the law must be recalibrated to reflect the gravity of forest crimes. He recommended stronger and more proportionate sanctions, improved monitoring systems, and tighter inter-agency coordination to ensure effective enforcement.
Beyond enforcement, Henshaw argued that Cross River’s forests represent untapped economic capital. He noted that the state’s biodiversity and landscapes hold strong ecotourism potential capable of generating revenue, creating jobs, and incentivising conservation if properly embedded within a modern legal framework.
However, he warned that declining forest cover, insecurity linked to illegal forest activities, and the absence of coherent policy direction have continued to undermine these prospects.
“By protecting forests, we are also protecting economic opportunities for present and future generations. We recommend community participation in forest governance, recognition of traditional knowledge systems and community-based monitoring mechanisms,” he explained.
He further advocated that any revised forestry legislation should formally integrate ecotourism principles into forest governance, provide legal backing for conservation-based enterprises, and create room for structured public-private partnerships.
Corroborating these concerns, the Chairman of the NGO Coalition for Environment and an environmental expert, Odigha Odigha, warned that Cross River’s ecological crisis has reached a critical threshold.
“Cross River is home to Nigeria’s largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest ecosystem. Cross River has lost over 60 per cent of its original forest cover. Large areas that were once dense rainforests have become degraded lands and grasslands. If urgent reforms are not undertaken, we risk losing one of Nigeria’s most valuable ecological assets permanently,” he stressed.
Stakeholders argue that without urgent legislative reform, stronger enforcement architecture, and community-driven forest governance, Cross River risks not only ecological collapse but also the loss of long-term economic opportunities tied to conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable development.