Community Leadership and Attitude to Impact of Ecotourism Development in Cross River State

Abstract: The unique nature of Cross River State owing to its geographical features of ecotourism potentials makes the state a natural paradise. This paper seeks to assessed communities and leadership attitude to the impacts of ecotourism development with regards to its impact on the standard of living of the people in the areas. Two communities were used in each ecoutorism zone which include Afamosing and Nyaye in Cross River State National Park located in Akamkpa while  in Okwango Division the two communities were Butatong and Okwa. However, four hundred structured questionnaires were used of which two hundred were distribute to each community using random sampling technique. Findings show that even though ecotourism has improved the standard of living of the people, it was not devoid of problems such as inflation and cultural diffusion. Besides, the data analyzed also revealed that community leadership has a fundamental role to play in ecotourism development in the two communities in the area. Therefore, if ecotourism must be encourage in Cross River State, community leadership must be incorporated in ecotourism development framework of the State.