UN-REDD feels communities’ pulse to better assist them

The Coordinator UN-REDD+ Programme/Geographic Information Service Unit, Mrs. Bridget Nkor, said in collaboration with the Cross River Forestry Commission, they sent out thousands of questionnaires so that the various communities could respond on the ways they manage their forests and what help they expected.
She said that the field work exercise undertaken by their staff and volunteers was well planned to get relevant information from the communities to enable the REDD+ Programme assist the communities with creative and collective ideas on how to manage the natural resources.
She said the participants and communities were advised to take the exercise seriously to achieve its objectives.
The participants were grouped into three according to the pilot site: Ekuri/Iko Essai pilot site, Mangrove/Irua Iwang and Kayang 1 pilot site amongst others.
Speaking while addressing the community in Kayang 1 in Boki LGA, one of the board members of Cross River State Forestry Commission, Mr. Arikpo Arikpo, urged the community to feel free and air their views and give genuine information on conflict resolution in terms of managing the natural resources within the forest.
Mr. Arikpo reaffirmed government’s commitment in transforming the forest to ensure adequate sustainability of the natural resources that were contributing to project the entire Cross River State globally adding that, the UN-REDD+ is also interested to know how intra community conflicts are resolved and the mechanism used  to resolve them.
Addressing the community in Irua Iwang Pilot Site in Bakassi LGA the group leader, Dr. Elizabeth Andrew, said the UN-REDD+ wished to know the existing complaint mechanisms related to natural resource or whether the community has a formal process of making complaints.
The communities in various pilot sites, were grouped into three: the elders, women and youths. The various groups aired their views on issues like; limited resources to manage the forest, disobeying the customary laws that regulate the use of community land, alternative measures to the use of firewood, limited farm land due to the conservation of the forest areas among others.
The field work exercise which lasted for two weeks, ended with a meeting of all the group leaders/pilot sites coordinators. The report of the exercise had since been submitted to the UN-REDD+ Secretariat for necessary action.
Chairman of the commission, Mr. Odigha Odigha, said the essence of the field work was to get response from the community on how they manage their natural resources and their finances.
Mr. Odigha maintained that the roles the identified communities played in natural resource management was very crucial, stating that was why the UN-REDD was seeking to know those areas that needed attention in order to enhance the proper management of the natural resources.