Agency Environmentalists have raised the alarm over the high level of deforestation ongoing in Cross River. They warned that if nothing is done to address the situation, it might impact negatively on the environment, especially now that climate change is posing a significant challenge globally. The Executive Director of ‘We the People’, an environmental advocacy group, Mr Ken Henshaw, while speaking on Friday in Calabar at a round table discussion themed, ‘Fostering Strategies and Partnership for Forest Protection in Cross River’, said the current level of deforestation in the state could be described as ‘the fastest anywhere around the world’ Quoting data from the Global Forest Watch Platform, he described the situation as “alarming and disturbing.
” Henshaw added, “Logging has taken an unbelievable dimension since the current administration in the state lifted the ban on it. “The administration merely set up a new forestry commission without addressing the key drivers of the illegal activity.” The executive director noted that the state government introduced a scheme that permitted people to log identified trees and pay taxes on them.
“This means that the illegal activity has yet to be addressed. At the moment, the report we get from the field is even worse than that of 2023. “The state government should not see the forest as a resource that can only bring revenue through logging,” he stressed Henshaw said other non-timber revenue sources could be.
