Global Sustainable Development Agenda: An Implication for Conservation Challenges in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The pristine rainforest of Cross River State of Nigeria is ecologically a region of species endemism and one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. Globally, there has been a drive for sustainability of these valuable ecosystems. The world Commission on Environment and Development articulates this drive and offers clarifications on the instruments to achieve the goals of sustainable development. However, in many countries such as Nigeria and other African countries, the challenges of achieving the global goal of sustainable development are enormous, given the urge for economic and infrastructural development, and the challenging needs of a burgeoning human population. Natural resources conservation in the above circumstances remain an uphill task. In the developed world, advancement in technology and industrial development also poses a serious problem to the global sustainability agenda. From the Nigerian perspective, with Cross River State harboring more than 50 percent of the remaining pristine rainforest, the challenges to sustainable development include inter alia ineffective implementation of international environmental treaties, high rates of deforestation, biodiversity loss, weak institutions, non-resettlement of enclave communities of parks, and lack of commitment on the part of stakeholders. This paper therefore recommends that forest ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation in parks and protected areas, and industrial strengthening should be pursued as core strategies of sustainable development in Nigeria.