Cross River communities want payment for forest oxygen

Hon Chris Ettah is representing the Boki/Ikom federal constituency in the central Cross River in the House of Representatives member. He said  that it is important for the government to listen to the plea and demand of the people from the two  vast forest LGAs and others in the state, especially as the state earns […]

Hon Chris Ettah is representing the Boki/Ikom federal constituency in the central Cross River in the House of Representatives member. He said  that it is important for the government to listen to the plea and demand of the people from the two  vast forest LGAs and others in the state, especially as the state earns much money from international organisations from carbon sale, an obvious reference to the UN-REDD+ multi-million Dollars the state has won.
Ettah said that with the new awareness spearheaded by Costa Rica and the Amazonia as it concerns sale of forest oxygen, the forest communities, too, want payment for their own natural commodity, forest oxygen.  
“As forest people, we need to benefit from carbon sale from our vast forests”, he stressed.
He went on: “Costa Rica and Amazonia are now talking about ‘commoditisation’ of the forest whereby they earn money from forest oxygen as a commodity. We as forest communities  are going to key into such new awareness, and demand payment for oxygen as a commodity”, he said.  
He cautioned that if such demands are not addressed “there could be public disobedience as the people may begin to indiscriminately cut down trees  to draw attention. “Perhaps when ‘forest militancy’ begins they will talk to us”, he said in an interview.
Hon Ettah said the people are willing and ready to protect the forest since they realise that protection of the forest is beneficial not only to the but mankind generally.
To enable the people wholeheartedly abandon the forests where their livelihood depended before now, Ettah called on the government to provide alternatives as a way of discouraging deforestation.
“We don’t support deforestation. We do not also encourage the people to disobey government directives regarding deforestation. But if the people who have the forests are not given alternatives to live off the forests, there is no way they can be stopped from earning their livelihoods from there as their lives depended on it.”