Nigeria's forests, which currently extend over 9.6 million hectares, have been dwindling rapidly over the past decades. The current deforestation rate is estimated at 3.7%, which is one of the highest in the world. The Federal Government of Nigeria, reinforced by pioneering efforts from Cross River State, started to engage in REDD+ in 2009, and became a partner country of the UN-REDD Programme in February 2010. The Nigeria REDD+ Readiness Programme envisions a two-track approach to achieve REDD+ readiness in Nigeria, based on: (i) the development of institutional and technical capacities at Federal level, and (ii) carrying out intense institutional, strategy-building and demonstration activities in Cross River State.