Changes needed to Liberia’s legal framework governing community forestry

By:
Global Witness
Published:
August 4, 2017
Countries:
Liberia
Topics:
Community Forestry, FLEGT
Document type:
Press release
Document ID:
3442
View count:
759
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Changes needed to Liberia’s legal framework governing community forestry
It is too easy for community forests to be co-opted by logging companies and local elites for narrowly commercial and unsustainable ends.
After decades of industrial logging and forest mismanagement, the Liberian government has pledged that it will now only issue forest licenses to the communities who own the forest.
This welcome change could be undermined however, by weaknesses in the country’s laws that govern how community forest licenses are awarded and managed. Fixes are needed to ensure community leaders are accountable to the people and to stop logging companies from co-opting these licenses and clear-cutting the forests.