UN to help Cross River set up REDD+ framework

Speaking in Calabar, he said: “We are to help Cross River set up a framework, a strategy in a way that will meet the standard and expectation of the international community of over 194 nations that signed the UN Climate Change convention and REDD+.”
He commended the state for her leading efforts at developing her vast forests, an action that has accorded her global recognition.
Governor Ben Ayade signed the partnership agreement with the UN agency for the development of the framework. The agreement will also cover forest guards, otherwise called Green Police, who the governor has just inaugurated.
Ayade said, “As we sign this deal today, we have a commitment that we have set the ball rolling in terms of afforestation, with a view to reversing the trend of climate change which is becoming very disastrous.
“Cross River State has over a million hectares of forest cover, giving us probably the highest forest cover in Africa. However, we are aware that this is not sufficient; hence there is need to reposition the state, which remains the major carbon dioxide sink for Nigeria.