Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard
The Cross River State government on Wednesday, says it has received two million euros donation from the European Union (EU) to aid in the preservation of the state’s ecosystem.
The donation would be used in the management of the Cross River National Park by protecting the nation’s drill gorillas, which are the most threatened apes in Africa.
The state, according to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), will also use it to enhance the livelihood of communities’ surrounding the forests in the state.
Mr Kurt Cornelius, the EU Head of Cooperation, said at the formal launch of the EU support for the preservation of forest ecosystems in Cross River, that the fund, which would run for the next four years, would help enhance the livelihood of communities around the gorillas’ forest home.
“The project would be implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Nigeria National Park Service and the state government.
“This project will help in the protection of natural resources in the forest and enhance EU and Nigeria’s collaboration, which will eventually impact the Gulf of Guinea,’’ he said.
Responding, Governor Ben Ayade, commended the EU saying the initiative would go a long way in changing for the better, lives of people of those communities.
Ayade, who was represented by his deputy, Professor Ivara Esu, said there should be deliberate education of the people not to harm the gorillas, but to help sustain them and the ecosystem.
“There should be a judicious application of the fund to lift the locals from abject poverty, the fund should also be extended to cover other economic ventures for the locals, instead of just support for cocoa planting,” he said.
The governor, however, said there was dire need for EU to further partner the state to open up the hinterlands which were inaccessible, making transportation of goods to urban areas difficult for the dwellers.
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