After 15 years of moratorium, Cross River State Government has concluded arrangements to lift the ban on logging. The administration of Liyel Imoke had in 2008 imposed a one-year moratorium or ban on logging to allow sanity and accountability in the forest and pave the way for the state to benefit from the REDD plus programme.

Unfortunately, the ban went beyond one year and has remained till date, paving the way for illegal logging, thereby making environment experts to raise the alarm that over 91,000 tons of timber leave the state every year due to illegal logging and warned that in the next 10 years, the forest may disappear if the situation was not addressed. 

Following the public outcry against the activities of illegal loggers, the state Governor, Bassey Otu, said the state has concluded plans to end the 15-year-old law on forest moratorium in the state.

A statement, yesterday, signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Emmanuel Obese, said the governor reasoned that the state could not continue to allow unscrupulous elements to rob the state of its legitimate earnings from its forest reserve.

He said: “In Cross River there have been ban on logging, which has generated so much problems for us. Very soon, we will lift the ban and allow the Forestry Commission to carry out its constitutional mandate because as at now, all the woods taken out of the state are stamped in Ebonyi and Benue states, and we want to change the narrative.

“We want all our woods to be stamped here in our state where they are gotten so that government can begin to enjoy the full benefits from its forest resource and we need the cooperation of all the citizenry in this direction.

“I recall vividly when Forestry Commission was paying salaries of civil and public servants in the state and we want to restore that lost glory.”