Liberia, Norway in $150m deal

The global environmental watch dog, Global Witness says a US$150 Million deal announced between the Governments of Liberia and Norway at the UN Climate Summit in New York to halt the destruction of Liberia’s rainforest could signal a bold new direction for Liberia’s forest economy.

In a dispatch dated September 23, the group said the deal foresees an end to new logging contracts, more scope for forest-dependent communities to manage their forests, and increase protected forest areas.

Global Witness believes that this partnership will reduce incentives for Liberia to liquidate its forests for cash, and will help put the country’s shattered economy on a more sustainable path towards poverty reduction and environmental protection. The agreement is part of Norway’s plan to help cut carbon emissions globally through preventing deforestation in an effort to reduce the impacts of climate change, the release said.

“Today’s announcement by Liberia and Norway is momentous,” Global Witness Director Patrick Alley said, adding that “For decades Liberia’s forests have been more of a curse than a blessing.” He said timber revenues funded ex-president Charles Taylor’s regime during country’s brutal civil war and since then, the experiment to generate economic development through industrial scale logging has failed.

Under such era, Mr. Alley said logging companies routinely logged illegally, skirt taxes, and caused huge damage to forests and forest communities. But he says the proposed shift towards community management and conservation could be a profound reversal of that failed model, saying Liberia is home to 43 percent of the remaining Upper Guinean forest, which also covers parts of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.

The Witness said it is estimated that one third of Liberia’s 4.3 million people live in the country’s forests, with many more reliant on them. Under the terms of the Norway-Liberia agreement Liberia has pledged to place a moratorium on new logging contracts and review logging concessions that are illegal or not performing.

Liberia also pledged to increase support for communities wishing to manage their forests, including practical training and research into new sustainable forest economies.
It additionally pledged to conserve 30 percent or more of its forests as protected areas; respect the rights of rural landowners, including those who own their land under customary law, and ensure that decisions are made only with their free, prior and informed consent.

Meanwhile, Norway will first assist Liberia in building systems to create new models of forest management, measure carbon stock, and monitor results. Beyond that, direct payments will be made to the Government of Liberia when it can start proving that deforestation rates are decreasing.