Agricultural encroachment

The deforestation rate in Cross River is one of the highest anywhere in the world, mainly driven by subsistence agriculture and the practice of shifting cultivation, wherebysmallholder farmers clear small plots of forest each year to plant crops such as cassava, banana, plantain, and cocoa. Large scale conversion of forest for commercial agricultural plantations (notably palm oil, rubber, and pineapple) hasalso significantly impacted the region. Although some of the state’s forestreserves have been heavily degraded, Cross River National Park has sur-vived relatively intact due to legal protection provided by the federalgovernment. Fragmentation of the landscape threatens important ha-bitat corridors essential for the conservation of elephants, gorillas, andother large mammals.