By:Blessing Enagu,CRS-MOI Officer reporting from Min of Climate Change
Cross River State Commissioner for Climate Change and Forestry, Ntufam Donatus Etim has hailed the European Union for initiating the intervention projects which have engendered impactful development for the State and her people.
Speaking to newsmen in Calabar after the official launch of “preservation of forest ecosystems ( PREFEC)” in Cross River State, held recently at Transcorp Hotel, Calabar, Commissioner Etim noted that the initiative would not only impact the forest bearing communities in the State, but would be felt globally in view of the importance of forest and its resources.
Ntufam Etim posited that the Two Million Euro grant for the project which would, among other interventions, enhance the livelihood of about 1000 surrounding forest communities would significantly reduce the pressure and undue exploitation of the State’s rich forest ecosystem and expand the forest estate cover in Cross River State.
He Further explained that over dependence on the forests for survival has placed deforestation rate in the State on a high scale which has in turn negated the benefits of forest to the society and to the diversity of life within the ecosystem.
The Climate Change and Forestry Commissioner informed that forests are major contributors to the earth’s ability to maintain its climate by the global impact of their photosynthesis, adding that forests are natural defense against climate change by removing the greenhouse gas carbondioxide and generating oxygen that purifies the atmosphere and control rising temperature.
Ntufam Etim concluded that the fight to preserve the forest ecosystem in Cross River State is a collaborative one, assuring of his Ministry’s support for the actualization of the EU’s project objectives.
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