Community leaders in Oban, Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State, have described UNESCO’s biodiversity business training programme as timely, transformative, and crucial to preserving their fast-depleting forest resources.
The leaders expressed their views in separate interviews with reporters on Wednesday in Akamkpa during a capacity-building workshop for 12 communities within the Oban Biosphere Reserve.
The training focused on developing sustainable biodiversity-based businesses such as fishery, poultry, and piggery. It was organised by UNESCO Nigeria under the project titled “Biodiversity Business in Omo Biosphere Reserve, Oban Biosphere Reserve, and Shere Hills Reserve, Nigeria – A Means to Poverty Reduction, Biodiversity Conservation, and Sustainable Development in Nigeria.”
His Royal Highness Ignatius Ndifon, the Traditional Ruler of Oban Community, said the training enlightened residents on the economic and environmental value of their natural resources.
“I feel delighted about this programme because it has helped us understand how much we have been losing due to ignorance. Outsiders come into our area, exploit our resources, make profits, and develop their own communities while we remain poor,” Ndifon said.
He added that the community had resolved to protect its forest lands and revive traditional land-use systems that promote sustainability.
“Our forefathers preserved this forest, and it must not be destroyed in our generation,” he said.
Mr. Innocent Osang, leader of the Ojok community, said the training addressed the root causes of indiscriminate forest exploitation and its environmental impact.
“This programme is designed to help us stop the indiscriminate exploitation of our forest so that we can preserve it for our children and generations to come. Our streams are drying up because of bush burning and logging near water sources.
“We thank UNESCO for this training, which will help our people engage in sustainable businesses instead of overexploiting the forest,” Osang said.
Also speaking, Mr. Ebenezer Ngwu, leader of the Orem community, described the initiative as the first of its kind in Cross River State.
He suggested that community-level forest regulations be developed in collaboration with local government authorities to strengthen conservation efforts.
“We can form Sustainable Forest Management Committees to check illegal logging and other harmful practices in our forests,” Ngwu said.
Mr. Boniface Ita, leader of Old Ekuri community, said the training was life-changing, as it would enable communities to become economically self-reliant without encroaching on forest resources.
“We now understand that the forest gives life. Many things that sustain human existence come from it, and this training has taught us how to manage them better,” Ita said.
Similarly, Mr. Augustin Ndifon, leader of Nsofang community, said the training had inspired collective action against indiscriminate logging within the biosphere reserve.
The programme is sponsored by the India–UN Development Partnership Fund and implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Committee, the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), and the National Park Service.
Benefiting communities include Old Netim, Nsan, Obung, Ojor, Nsofang, New Ekuri, Old Ekuri, Neghe, Oban, Osomba, Orem, and Ojok.
