Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union trains 400 members in forest management

To accelerate development in Liberia, the Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union says it has trained 400 Chainsaw mailers in Forest Management in Liberia pending the passage of the forest regulations law.

Speaking Monday to reporters, the institution’s financial officer Alvin Kanneh said those trained were taken from Rivercess, Grand Cape Mount, Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties. He discloses additional training for two counties through its counterpart early next year.

Kanneh terms the completion of the training as a success for the industry, noting that 120 members were trained in Rivercess, 90 persons in Grand Bassa, while 140 and 100 persons were also trained in Nimba and Margibi Counties, respectively.

The training was geared towards equipping Chainsaw Mailers to ably manage the Liberian forest which is a major source of revenue generation of the country and highlighting the impact of their individual
development.

“We will continue to train our members in order to protect the forest of Liberia because it is our national heritage that if taken care of will help to raise the standard of living for our members and the citizens of Liberia,” he says.

According to Kanneh, the forest here is one of the most valuable, filled with a lot of timbers and trees that are used for multiple reasons in the West African Sub-region which he says many want to use illegally for their personal interest and not the interest of the country.
As such, he says they are seriously in support of the passage of the forest regulations law of Liberia. The Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union Executive notes further that his institution sees the management of the Liberian forest as an achievement to minimize the illegal usage of the forest.

At the same time, Alvin Kanneh notes that money collected as due from members of the Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union is used for the upkeep of the institution.

“We can assure our members that modalities are being worked out to have a vibrant institution … next year as compared to the past due to the level of cooperation we are getting from our local and international development partners,” he states.

Giving narrative about the level of cordiality existing between his institution and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Kanneh boasts that since the appointment of C. Mike Duyan by President George Weah, their institution has gotten support from the current leadership.

Kanneh explains that since through the leadership of the Forestry Development Authority Boss, they are about to experience the passage of the forest regulations which they have advocated for over the past years.