TECHNICAL REPORT

ON
STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE
SCHEME
(SIWES)
AT

CROSS RIVER FORESTRY COMMISSION,

CALABAR-CHARGE
WRITTEN BY
ELEMI, MERCY PIUS
MATRIC NO: 20/151144016
FACULTY OF BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
SUBMITTED TO
PROF ANI NKANG
(SIWES SUPERVISOR)
DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ECOLOGICAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF BIOLOGICAL STUDIES

IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE COURSE

REQUIREMENT:
STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME
(PES 302)
JULY 19, 2024
ABSTRACT

This report highlights the experiences acquired during my six months industrial work
experience scheme (SIWES) with the Cross River State Forestry Commission Calabar.
The industrial attachment was undertaken in the Department of Regeneration,
Agroforestry, Non - timber product & Medicinal Plants. The commission was given
the responsibility of sustainably developing, conserving and managing the forest
reserves of the state for the benefit of all stakeholders through sound policies and
programs. Sustainable development will allow for controlling the establishment,
density, composition, growth, quality, and reproduction to meet resource objectives
and achieve management outcomes for the State forests. Knowledge and skills were
acquired in the areas of nursery operations and plant identification. Visits were also
made to the Drill Ranch and timber market (Akim), highlighting the importance
conservation and trees to the environment. The industrial training allowed for
integrating classroom learning experiences with field practical experience that
provided a clear understanding of involvement in all operational activities in the
forestry commission.
Title

Dedication

Abstract

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Historical background of the commission

Objectives of the Forestry Commission

Commission Mission

Commission Mandate

Challenges

Departments of the Forestry Commissions

CHAPTER TWO: WORK EXPERIENCE

Nursery Operations

Botanical Rambling

Visitation to Drill Ranch

Visitation to Timber Market (Akim)

CHAPTER THREE: SUMMARY

Summary

Reference
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CROSS RIVER FORESTRY COMMISSION

The Cross River Forestry Commission evolved from the forestry development department of the
Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources on the 30 of November 1999.
The law establishing the present Forestry Commission Board was signed into law on 8 September
2010 by the Cross River State House of Assembly. The commission was given the responsibility of
sustainably developing, conserving and managing the forest reserves of the state for the benefit of all
stakeholders through sound policies and programs. Sustainable development will allow for controlling
the establishment, density, composition, growth, quality, and reproduction to meet resource
objectives and achieve management outcomes for a given forest (e.g., Smith et al., 1997).

VISION AND MISSION OF CROSS RIVER FORESTRY COMMISSION

 VISION

To be a home of one of the world's greenest and biologically diverse forests by all
global standards.

 MISSION

To be a commission efficient in the sustainable development and conservation of

Cross River forest and wildlife resources, meeting local, national and global
standards for forest and wildlife management.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CROSS RIVER FORESTRY COMMISSION

- Afforestation, Eco-regeneration and rehabilitation of degraded lands
- protection and conservation of Flora, and fauna.
- Creation of environmental awareness among all sectors of the people.
- Assist organizations implementing forestry programs.
- Habitat management for conservation of wildlife.

MANDATE AND CHALLENGES OF CROSS RIVER FORESTRY COMMISSION

MANDATE
Regulate the activities of Forestry Commission parastatals, local governments,
departments, organizations and statutory bodies as it relates to forests, forest
resources and wildlife conservation issues in the state.

CHALLENGES
The state government ban on logging has resulted in illegal exploitation of forest
resources in the forests across the state.

DEPARTMENTS OF THE CROSS RIVER FORESTRY COMMISSION AND THEIR

FUNCTIONS

 Department of Administration/Human Resources Consultancy and Training

-Deals with record keeping of Mails.

- Responsible for promotion and staff discipline.

 Department of Community Private Forestry

- Circulate information to timber dealers
- involve communities in policy making concerning forests, forest resources and
wildlife

 Department of Information and Communication

-This department is responsible for gathering, processing and circulation of
information in the commission.

Department of Regeneration/Agroforestry Non-timber product and medicinal

plants (RANM)
-Teaches communities best practices to reduce climate change.
- Handles non-timber forest produce and carries out regeneration.

 Department of Finance and Accounts

- This department deals with planning, researching and provides figures for financial
transactions in the commission.

 Department of Conservation Protection and Compliance (CPC)

- Ensures protection of the forest estates of the state and compliance with the law.
- Responsible for laws and policies regulating forest produce.

 Department of Planning, Research, Statistics and Quality Controls.

This department collates data and oversees quality control for effective
management.
 Department of Wildlife and Ecotourism

- Control of poaching and illegal logging.

- Educates communities on how to control and preserve wildlife from pressuring the
natural reserves.

 Department of Cartography

-Takes stock of inventories.

- Ensures monitoring, documentation and verification of forest based activities.

 Department of Business Development

- Deals with the development of forest businesses in the state.

- Maintains data bank on NGOs and corporate bodies involved in forest
business.
 CHAPTER TWO: WORK EXPERIENCE

NURSERY OPERATIONS

NURSERY
Nursery is defined as a place where seeds and seedlings of different types of
desired species are raised and tendered in good quality before being
transplanted in a field (Plate 1).

Plate 1 Raising Seedlings in the nursery’

TYPES OF NURSERY (Buyinza and Opolot 2016)

 Temporary/flying nursery
 Permanent/centralized nursery

TEMPORARY/FLYING NURSERY

This type of nursery is raised annually, to feed any new plantation projects. This type
of nursery needs low capital, is less labor intensive for its establishment and is often
situated close to a residential area.

PERMANENT/FLYING NURSERY
The purpose for the establishment of this type of nursery is for scientific research. It
also boosts revenue Regeneration. This type of nursery demands high capital and is
high labour intensive to manage.

FACTORS INFLUENCING SITING OF NURSERIES

 Suitable site: The nursery should be on a fairly undulating area free from
environmental hazards.
  The number of plants required for the nursery
 Funds: Money is very important for nursery establishment
 Proximity to a water resource.
 Availability of adequate sunlight
 Nearness to plantation site to reduce stress on seedlings during
transportation.

IMPLEMENTS/MATERIALS USED FOR NURSERY ESTABLISHMENT (Plates 2-6)

Plate 2: Cutlass-For site clearing, cutting of tree branches for adequate sunlight
 Plate 3: Hoe- For weeding

Plate 4: Rake- For raking, mixing and spreading soil

 Plate 5: Watering can

Plate 6: Polypot/bag: For Raising seedlings

SURVEY EQUIPMENTS
 Tape: This is often used to measure the dimensions of the site and preparing
the nursery.
 Ranging pole: This helps to determine the survey line being taken.
 Compass/GPS:Compass helps to determine the size of the nursery while GPS
helps to produce the coordinates and map to the site of the nursery.

HOW TO RAISE SEEDLINGS IN A NURSERY

 Broadcast system
This method involves the spreading/scattering of seeds all over the seed
bed.

 Direct sowing in polybags

This method involves sowing of the seeds directly into the polys after
confirming their viability.
TREE NURSERY OPERATIONS
PRE-OPERATION

 Collection of seeds: pick seeds that are free from pests, diseases and dry to
prevent them from rotting
 Breaking of dormancy: seeds should either be steeped in water overnight or
the dormancy broken before planting
 Perforation of polybags (the process of creating hole in the bag)
 Filling up polybags with soil/nursery bed preparation (Plate 7).
 Stacking of polybags in rolls of spacing 1x10m

IMPORTANCE OF PERFORATION

 To remove excess water that could have aid rotting of the plant root
 Allow air into the soil
 Weeding (removal of unwanted plants).

Plate 7: IT students engaged in nursery bed preparation.

NURSERY OPERATIONS
Planting of seedlings (Almond and flame of the forest) in the polybags.

POST OPERATION
 Observation of nursery to determine the extent and rate of Germination.
 Watering of seedlings.
 Beating up (the system of replacing dead plants).
BOTANICAL RAMBLING

This is an exercise carried out to identify trees, shrubs and herbs using the
arrangement of leaves, color of bark exudate, shape of fruit/seeds.
Common Scientific Shape of Leaf Bark color Family
Name Name fruit/seeds Arrangement

Royal palm Roystonea Spherical/oblong Pinnate Grey white Arecaceae

regia

Gmelina Gmelina Obvoid Alternate Whitish Lamiaceae

arborea brown

Monoon Polyalthia Oblong Alternate Coppery Annonaceae

longifera longifera

Almond Prunus dulcis Drupe Whorl Red Rosaceae

mill

Neem Azadirachta Ellipsoidal Opposite Brown Meliaceace

indica drupe
Bush Mango Irvingia Spherical Opposite Grey Irvingiaceae
gabonensis

Mango Mangifera Kidney shape Alternate Red/ Anacardiaceae

indica brown

Achi Brachystegia Opposite, Cinnamon Fabaceae

eurycoma alternative and and bright red
whorl

Avocado Persea Spiral Dark green to Flat and Lauraceae

black round in
americana
shape

Editan Lasianthera Opposite Light brown No fruit Icacinaceae

africana

Bitter leaf Vernonia Spiral Grey /brown No fruit Asteraceae

amygdalina

Teak Tectona Opposite Brownish grey Roundish Lamiaceae

grandis

Hospital too Jatropha Alternate Light brown No fruit Euphorbiacea

far tanjorensis e

Royal palm
 It is a specie of palm native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida and parts of Central
America. it is a large and attractive palm and planted throughout the tropics and
subtropics as an ornamental plant.

Gmelina
It a genus of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is grown commonly in Australia, New
Guinea, New Caledonia, South East Asia, India and Africa. It was named by Carl
Linnaeus in honor of Johann Georg GMELINA.

Monoon longifoliun
Its an Asian small tree species in the family Annonaceae. It is a native of Southern
India and Sri Lanka, but has been wildely introduced elsewhere in the tropics. This
evergreen tree can grow up to 20m in height and is commonly planted due to its
effectiveness in alleviating noise pollution.

Almond
It is a tree species from the genus Prunus. Along with peach, it is classified in
the subgenus Amydalus, and distinguished from the other sub genera by the
corrugation on the shell (endocarp) surrounding the seeds.
Neem
It is a one of two species in the genus Azadirachta.it is a native of the Indian
subcontinent and other parts of South East Asia, but is naturalized and grown
around the world in tropical and subtropical areas
Bush Mango/African mango/wild mango
They bear edible mango-like fruits, and are essentially valued for their fat and
protein-rich nuts.

Mango
Mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree Mangifera
indica. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar,
Bangladesh and North Eastern India. It has been cultivated in southeast since
ancient times resulting in two types of modern mango "the india type and the
southeast asian type".
Achi
It is a sizable tree species of found in southern Nigeria and western
Cameroon. It has a spreading flattened crown.

Avocado
This is a medium sized evergreen tree in the Laurel family.
It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated in meso America more
than 5,000 years ago . It is prized for its large and unusually oily fruit.
Editan
This is an edible and medicinal plant . It is traditionally used for the treatment
of diarrhea, dysentery, stomach trouble, parasitic infections, ulcers and
diabetes.
Bitter leaf
This is a member of the daisy family, small to medium sized shrub, that grows
in tropical Africa . It typically grows to the height of 2-5 m . The leaves are
elliptical and up to 20cm long. It's bark is rough. It is used as a vegetable.

Teak
It is a deciduous tropical hardwood tree species. Tectona grandis has small,
fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters at the end of the branches.
These flowers contain both types of reproductive organs (i.e. monoecious).
 Hospital too far
It is popular in Mexico and originated in Central America. It is a shrub, grows
up to 6m high with spreading branches and stubby twinges and smooth ray
bark, which gives off toxic whitish colored latex when out. It has medicinal
value.

IMPORTANCE OF TREES
 It enhances purification of the atmosphere
 It provides shade
 It helps mitigate depletion of ozone layer
 It helps in soil water management as it prevents excess evaporation of water
during the dry season
 It controls different types of erosion e.g. soil erosion because of its deep and
lateral roots that hold the soil firmly.
 VISITATION TO DRILL RANGE (Plate 8)

Plate 8: IT students at the Drill Ranch.

Drill ranch was built in 1991 by Pandrillus, an NGO founded by Peter Jenkins and Liza
Gadshy to promote the survival and rehabilitation of endangered and long over
looked African primates. The Pandrillus works in cooperation with the Cross River
State Ministry of Climate Change and Forestry.

The Drill Ranch is located at Nsefik Eyo layout, Ndidem Iso road, Calabar.

Funding
Drill Ranch is funded by donations from individuals, companies and organizations in
Nigeria and abroad or through in-kind support like animal feed, medicine and
building materials given by the people who appreciate the effort of preserving part
of Nigerians unique natural heritage.

Species
Currently the range is conserving three species of threatened primates
The Drill monkey -Mandrillus leocophacus
The Sclater’s monkey - Cercopithecus sclateri
The Drill Monkey (Mandrillus)
Drills are large short tailed rain forest monkeys with snooth black face. They are
territorial animals as they travel long distances in search of food in their natural
habitat. They are found in Cross River, Nigeria, southern/western Cameroon and
Equatorial Guinea. They are fed 3 to 5 times daily with fruits, vegetables and eggs as
protein supplements in the absence of invertebrates in the soil.
They communicate with facial expressions, vocalizations and behaviors. Where there
are two families, one is considered higher ranking (Royal) and the other lower
ranking (slave).They have alpha male and dominant female as their leaders, which
protect the young ones from being bullied.Their gestation period is six months and
they give birth to only one child.They have a live span of up to 30 years.
The drill monkeys are the major primates brought to the Drill Range.

The Sclater’s monkey

They are colorful forest monkeys with 3 colored long tails. They have distinctive ears
with tufts and a white-orange nose spot on a gold flecked "cap" on the head.
They are one of the world's rarest monkeys and are found only in Nigeria, mostly
South Eastern Nigeria.They are regarded as scared monkeys
Their gestation period is 6 months and they give birth to one child, with weaning of
1-2 years. They have live span of 25-30 years. They are fed 4-5 times daily on fruit,
vegetable,moi moi and egg.

VISITATION TO TIMBER MARKET

The Akim Timber Market is a place made for processing of wood. It was established
in 1969. Both hardwood and soft wood are processed in the timber market.

Hardwood

 Achi wood
 Iroko wood
 Cam wood
 Teak wood
 Zebra wood
 Opepe wood
 Eboyi wood
 Black afara wood
 Cader wood
 Mimosop wood
 Uwen wood

Soft wood
They are mostly found in swampy areas
 Pine wood
 Ukpo wood
 Achigum wood

Activities in the timber market

- Cutting of wood
- Sharpening of machine tools/blades
- Making of furniture/other wood works
- Selling of timber and furniture
Machines and Their Uses

Band Saw or Circular Machine: Used in Sawing wood

Planing Machine: Used for planing wood

Table Saw Machine: Used to cut wood into smaller sizes

Cutting Machine: Used in cutting of wood

Milling Machine: used to provide better surface finish

HARD WOOD SOFT WOOD

DIFFERENCES IN USAGE OF HARD WOOD AND SOFT WOOD

HARD WOOD SOFT WOOD

Used for construction Used for foundation laying
Used for furniture making Used for padding
Used for booking masking Used for skeletal work

Challenges associated with timber availability

- Forest burning
- Farming season
- Timber Attack by pests and diseases
- Haulage delays by tractor

References
Buyinza J. and I. Opolot (2016). Tree nursery establishment and tree management:
Training m annual for community tree nursery operators and tree farmers. National
Forestry Resources Institute, Kampala, Uganda.

INSERT THE REFERENCE ON Smith et al., 1997