Swiss varsity, UNICAL partner to save West Africa’s forest patches

From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar

The University of Bern in Switzerland and the University of Calabar (UNICAL) are teaming up to save the endangered and under researched forest patches of West Africa.

The partnership, which is through the Sustain forests Project aims to analyze the interactive roles of forest patches in the agricultural landscapes of the rainforest and forest zones in Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon.

Forest patches are scattered across the fragmented agricultural landscapes of the region and face risks of degradation, which requires sustainable use and management.

Speaking in Calabar during a Sustain forests Research Project Results Exchange Workshop, experts called for community reserve forests to help preserve the forest patches in local communities.

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, a Professor of Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management from the University of Bern, Switzerland called for community reserve forest to help foster sustainability.

“We expect communities involved to set up a part of their forests as community reserve forest.

“Forests are very important no matter how small for biodiversity so the community can set this up and also follow up with proper management so that there is no encroachment”, she said.

Also speaking, Francis Bisong, a Professor of Geography from UNICAL said it’s critical to bring stakeholders to share knowledge and research findings.

Forest patches in West Africa have remained under researched and the project hopes to address this gap and gather valuable insights through locally driven strategies for the sustainable use and management of forest resources.