The Chairman, Cross River Forestry Commission, Mr Odigha Odigha, says that N18 million has been earmarked as royalty for communities, which reserved their forest in 2012.

Odigha told our correspondent in Calabar that the state government instituted “royalty payment’’ for communities which embraced the government policy regarding forest conservation.

According to him, more funds will be disbursed in next year’s budget, while N18 million will be given out to communities who get involved.

Odigha disclosed that the state government had given out N10 million to communities which conserved their forest, pointing out  that the state would extend its forest cover by 25 per cent before 2020, while  the state government planted more than five million trees yearly using indigenous trees species.

“We do that annually and we have started that process; we planted a few hectares in 2011 and 2012 because it is a new project and a learning process, he said,

“We have a ban on logging, we need to have some form of another incentive which has a close resemblance to the (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme or carbon credit.’’

Odigha said that the state government had shifted its emphasis from running an unsustainable economy, which was dependent on forest or timber exploitation, to an economy that was dependent on carbon efficiency, stressing that the government was determined to promote carbon efficiency in order to reduce the level of carbon generation.

“We are going into low-carbon economy to enhance the environment and forest under what we called the REDD Programme, adding that “the state government has signed the REDD document last month and the process is ongoing.”

He said that the state government had launched a campaign against deforestation in the state, adding that there were new agricultural techniques which enabled the cultivation of the same piece of farmland for up to 20 years without any decrease in productivity and farm yield.

“That means the forest that is standing should be left to stand as much as possible so that we can get value for the forest as per the carbon content,’’ he said.

On the issue of flooding, he described the recent flooding in the country as “unfortunate and surprising.

“It was expected because the alert and alarm has been on, if we had heeded the warnings; probably, we could have reduced the impact, even if we were not able to avert it completely,’’ he said.