Community Conservation of rainforest and biodiversity in South east Nigeria through community Partnerships

The buffer zone of Cross River National Park is inhabited by about 75 communities. They derive their livelihoods from the products of the rainforest. The forests are under constant pressure through clearing for farming, logging, Non-timber forest products exploitation and unsustainable hunting. Through external support from DFID, Concern Universal and other development partners the local communities have set up forest management structures, which have become dysfunctional over the years. The continued over-exploitation and subsequent loss of the forest resources have been linked to a lack/ weak management of the forests and its interaction with the livelihood status prevailant in the project area. The region is reported by the NGO to harbour a unique assemblage of species, as it is located at the boundary between the Lower Guinea and Congo Basin ecological zones. Its primate population include the Nigerian Chimpanzee, the red colobus, the red-eared guenon, the red capped mangabey, putty nosed guenon, mona monkey and the Drill monkey as well as at least 6 species of prosimians. There are more than 170 species of birds, over 900 butterfly species, a new species discovered in the Esai forest in 2002 ( Phrynobatracoides crossii). Among trees found in Cross River forests include Trichoseycypha preussi, Sorindeia mildbraedii, Drypetes staudtii, Uvariodendron connivens, Mansonia altissima, and Bailonella toxisperma. Many species are globally endangered (e.g. Mandrillus leucophaeus, Cercopithecus erythrotis, Procolobus pennanti preussi, Pan trogloydytes vellerosus; Bufo superciliaris), others are threatened or vulnerable (Cercocebus torquatus, Loxodonta cyclotis). It is a centre of endemisim for several plant families including the economically important Cola and Garcinia genera. In Nigeria these species are all endangered, due to the scale of hunting and deforestation over the past 20 years in the country. This threat continues both inside and outside protected areas. The project sets out to address these issues in 6 villages in the National Park’s buffer zone. The key issues in the communities that the project will address include: • Conflicts and a lack of a cohesive vision in the villages of how to best manage the communities’ forests for development • Lack of awareness of alternative development opportunities • Poverty and the perceived lack of opportunities for development by means other than unsustainable forest exploitation. • Lack of capacity, training and organisation in the communities to develop these alternative opportunities for the development of the community as a whole and all the various groups within it. The project intends to promote community conservation of rainforests and biodiversity in South East Nigeria through community partnerships and alternative livelihoods. The two-fold objectives of the project are (1) to strengthen protection of existing conservation areas on Iko Esai land and expand this protection to the rest of Iko Esai’s land and that of neighbouring communities; and (2) to increase the standard of living and conservation awareness of Iko Esai and neighbouring communities thus reducing their reliance on the unsustainable use of forest resources. The rationale is of this approach is that through empowering the communities to tackle these issues, the the protection of the biodiversity of these forests will be enhanced, with a direct influence on the protection of the National Park. Some of the driving forces of the problem such as poverty, a lack of awareness of alternative development opportunities and the lack of community technical capacity, will be addressed. Once the protection of the Iko Esai community forests is enhanced and expanded, the protection initiative will be extended to the other forests on its land through the upgrading of a partially drafted land use management plan. It will also carry out meetings with 5 neighbouring villages to explore how this protection can be expanded to the community forest adjacent to Iko Esai. This may, in the longer term, expand the currently protected 12,000 ha Iko Esai community forest into a wider 50,000 ha Community Conserved Area. Other project activities include an alternative livelihoods programme, an eco-tourism to attract Nigerian tourists and an environmental education programme that will also reach out to the schools in all 6 communities in the project area.