Women from Ekuri community in Akamkpa Local Government Area, Cross River State, have raised concerns over the severe impact of illegal logging, warning that the unregulated exploitation of forests is driving families into hunger, poverty, and insecurity.

The warning came during a one-day training programme in Calabar for journalists and Ekuri women representatives, where participants highlighted how years of community-led forest conservation are being undermined by continuous logging activities.

Mrs. Agatha Egot, a community representative, said Ekuri women have preserved over 33,600 hectares of communal forest for decades through traditional practices. However, economic hardship has weakened local resistance, with some youths now drawn into illegal logging to survive.

“Forest degradation has drastically reduced access to food crops, medicinal plants, and other non-timber forest products essential for household sustenance,” Egot said. She added that items such as afang, editan, atama, and ogbono, once abundant, are now scarce, forcing women to travel longer distances under unsafe conditions to gather them.

Declining farm yields and the loss of forest resources have intensified poverty, making it harder for families to feed and educate their children, Egot noted.

Freda Francis, Assistant Secretary of the Ekuri Women’s Forum, said the presence of loggers and armed strangers in the forests has heightened insecurity, restricting women’s access to farms and increasing cases of intimidation, with some loggers reportedly claiming parts of the forest as their own.

She further observed that logging activities have disrupted natural water systems, leaving streams either dried up or polluted, further affecting the community’s daily life.

The women alleged that over 200 truckloads of timber are removed daily from Ekuri, and efforts to resist the illegal activities are often met with harassment and threats.

They also decried the destruction of the community’s only access road by heavy-duty trucks, which has isolated Ekuri, increased transport costs, and caused economic losses for cocoa farmers whose plantations are being destroyed.

The women called for urgent government intervention to halt illegal logging, restore forest conservation, and protect the livelihoods and safety of the Ekuri community.