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Civil society organisations and environmental experts have intensified pressure on the Cross River State Forestry Commission to pursue an urgent review of the Cross River State Forestry Law, 2010.
They warned that loopholes in the legislation are accelerating deforestation and emboldening forest-related crimes.
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The demand was made during a media briefing on Wednesday in Calabar by a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including We The People (WTP), PADIC Africa, Uyo Iban, NGO Coalition for Environment, Nelson Ofem Initiative, Onyx Foundation Africa, Policy Alert, Nigerian Conservation Foundation and Biodiversity Rescue Club.
Speaking to journalists on behalf of the coalition, Ken Henshaw, executive director of We The People, and Odigha Odigha, chairman of the NGO Coalition for Environment in Cross River State, said the current legal framework protecting forests in Cross River is too weak to deter offenders and, in some cases, is inadvertently structured to incentivise illegal logging.
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According to Mr Henshaw, forest conservation and management must be treated not only as environmental obligations but as strategic economic assets capable of unlocking climate finance and ecotourism opportunities for the state.
“Illegal logging and wildlife trafficking continue to undermine conservation efforts. Weak penalties and enforcement gaps have allowed these activities to persist,” Mr Henshaw said.
“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 said.
According to him, the law must be reviewed to reflect the gravity of forest offences. He recommended stiffer and proportionate sanctions, improved monitoring systems, and stronger inter-agency collaboration to close enforcement gaps.
Beyond enforcement, Mr Henshaw argued that Cross River’s forests represent vast untapped economic capital.
He noted that the state’s biodiversity and unique landscapes possess significant ecotourism potential capable of generating revenue, creating employment and incentivising conservation if embedded within a modern and coherent legal framework.
Mr Henshaw warned that declining forest cover, insecurity linked to illegal forest activities, and the absence of clear policy direction have continued to undermine these prospects.
“By protecting forests, we are also protecting economic opportunities for present and future generations,” he said. “We recommend community participation in forest governance, recognition of traditional knowledge systems, and community-based monitoring mechanisms.”
He asked that any revised forestry legislation formally integrate ecotourism principles into forest governance, provide legal backing for conservation-based enterprises, and create structured pathways for public-private partnerships.
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Corroborating these concerns, Mr Odigha said that the state’s ecological crisis has reached a critical threshold.
“Cross River is home to Nigeria’s largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest ecosystem,” Mr Odigha said.
“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 said that without swift legislative reform, a strengthened enforcement architecture, and community-driven forest governance, Cross River risks not only ecological collapse but also the forfeiture of long-term economic gains tied to conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable development.
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