Located around the western edge of the Oban corridor of the Cross River National Park Oban Division and straddling the border with Cameroon, Iko-Esai community forms the Eastern end of the Guinean Forests biodiversity hotspot. The community had set aside 20,000 hectares of community-owned pristine forest (designated RHOKO Camp) for Primate Rehabilitation and Reintroduction, including serving as area for environmental and ecological studies. However, this area was managed by an international organisation which, when it pulled out, left the community with little (if any) capacity to sustain the conservation effort. This area provides refuge for the most diverse range of primate species including Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Presus Red Colobus, drills, Guenons and Mangebeys, including forest Elephants, which play very vital role in the rainforest ecology through seed dispersal. Just before the CEPF funded project, animals held in temporary captivity were released into the Oban Division of the National Park, contiguous with the Rhoko Camp, raising further concern and the urgency to undertake measures to safeguard the survival of these species especially from the impacts of logging, farm expansion, and poaching. Before the project therefore, there was no organised structure to ensure the continued management of Rhoko camp and the protection of species. The community had a land use map without any written description and/or by-laws to enable implementation and rule enforcement. The existing institutions were not organised to have a clear plan for the management of Rhoko camp. Pressure from neighbouring communities was mounting to exploit the area, creating potentials for conflicts to escalate.On that premise, DEVCON worked with Iko Esai community to develop this project titled “Community Based Action to Save Iko-Esai Rhoko Forest”, which has created the following impact.

For the first time in nearly 2 decades, Iko Esai community came together to assess and redefine their institutional arrangement for natural resource management. The community unanimously adopted community forestry in the context of sustainable forest management. What has changed? A well defined institutional arrangement with a functional community-based organisation registered with the State Government as “Esai Conservation Organisation (ECO) to champion conservation and development initiatives in Iko Esai. The community approved the functioning of Eco-Guard as the enforcement arm of ECO, reporting to ECO’s management team who reports to the council chiefs who reports to the entire community in their General Assembly involving all community members. As a litmus test of this structure, DEVCON guided ECO to facilitate discussions around the development of their land use plan with by-laws. For the first time, Iko Esai has a documented land use plan with by-laws with printed copies distributed to all relevant institutions in the community including Council of Chiefs, Women, and Youth as part of the community’s communication plan in support of rule enforcement. The land use plan gives clear direction on intensive agricultural activities without impact on the remaining forest area. ECO and the Council of Chiefs are helping to facilitate discussions and alliances involving all the 14 communities in and around the Okpon river forest area contiguous with the Oban division of the Cross River National Park to protect this forest landscape, preserve the biodiversity in it, and explore opportunities for the socio-economic development of the areas. This structure and community-level cooperation will continue as a long term impact of this project. Already DEVCON is supporting these communities to develop community nurseries for regeneration, even as they strengthen efforts in forest monitoring and rule enforcement.

DEVCON and Iko-Esai community agreed in project planning and implementation that sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation will be better enhanced through investments that increase the value of the forest and direct relevance to the physiological needs of community members. What changed? Farmers beginning to adopt agro-forestry practice involving bush mango integration in farms to simulate forest environment while guaranteeing food and income security of households (a hectare i.e. 2 – 3 hundred stands) can generate minimum of N1,500,000 (about 4,200USD) annually. More households are beginning to introduce bush mango in their farms, and a few more are beginning to adopt the same approach with cocoa farming with the aim of increasing productivity with minimal farm input and on existing farm lands. Bushmango agro-forestry is important for women who rely more on harvesting them for income and food, and who are more affected in the event of forest loss. Also, the Eco-Guards adopted bee farming for honey production as means of demonstrating sustainable honey production without burning trees and of generating income to support their forest monitoring without encumbering community members. the project rehabilitated lodges in Rhoko Camp to reposition the Camp in the tourism map of Cross River State and attract tourists, students and researchers, and also severing as source of income for the community in support of their conservation initiative.

This project was holistic in design and implementation to address the concerns and needs of youth, women and men. A carefully planned livelihoods component targeted cassava processing with women in the lead. Cassava is a major staple with high economic value. Women take the lead in cassava cultivation, processing and marketing. Prior to the project, women depended on manual processing of cassava into garri, taking minimum of 3 days to process a basin of this product. The project supplied the women with semi mechanised equipment that can enable them process up to 5 basins in a day. From analysis, households in the community cultivate between 0.5 to 2.5ha of cassava farm. Cassava processed into garri sells between N2,000 and N6,000 per basin, depending on seasons and market factors. Iko Esai has the potential to produce 500 basins of garri per year. Sold at the average cost of N4,000/basin the gross income from cassava per year will be N1,500,000, generated by women. This has huge economic implication and potential to trigger sustainable forest management as income from other sources. Iko Esai’s land use plan promotes sustainable agriculture and safeguards against farm expansion into forests.