Reports
Who owns the forest?
Exploring issues of property rights and customary land tenure, this report advocates for the urgent need for reform which recognises local people's collective entitlement over their customary lands. It looks back at the treatment of customary land tenure over the century-long process of forming the modern Liberian State and offers practical solutions for dealing with land tenure issues for inclusion in the national law.
Promise Betrayed
This report examines the state of forest law enforcement and governance in post-conflict Liberia and catalogues major issues in the implementation of forest sector reform. It asserts that failure to fully implement forest sector reform may put the livelihoods of communities at risk and undermine the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy and any future Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU). It highlights that improvements in forest governance cannot come about without political will and the active participation of civil society actors, including local communities.
Where is the Money?
ArcelorMittal Liberia contributes US$3 million annually to the County Social Development Fund (CSDF) for development in counties hosting its operations. This report examines the mismanagement of the fund and as a result how it is failing to make significant impacts on the lives of the target beneficiaries. It highlights the failure of the Dedicated Funds Committee in their management of the fund which has been characterised by a lack of accountability, transparency and citizen's participation. The report recommends that the government and ArcelorMittal’s reform plans must include an audit of the fund and holding those responsible for fund mismanagement or misappropriation to account.
Making the forest sector transparent (Annual transparency report 2010)
This report acts as an annual forest sector report card for Liberia which assesses the transparency of the sector. It recommends the government fully implement the transparency measures contained in the various laws including the FOI Act, LEITI Act, NFRL and Community Rights Law (CRL) 2009 and the development of action plans by government agencies to fulfil their obligations in making information accessible and transparent. This report is a component of the annual report cards collected for the Making the Forest Sector Transparent project.
Making the forest sector transparent (Annual transparency report 2009)
This report is the first ever forest sector report card for Liberia. It assesses the transparency and accessibility of information regarding the forest sector with particular attention on forest governance. It underlines the vital role FDA, civil society and the private sector play in ensuring increased transparency and public participation in the sector and greater equity in benefit sharing. This report is a component of the annual report cards collected for the Making the Forest Sector Transparent project.
ArcelorMittal Going Nowhere Slowly
This report catalogues the social and environmental impacts of ArcellorMittal's mining activities globally and assesses the company’s efforts to improve its environmental, health and safety performance. It highlights the issues with the companies activities in Liberia such as the lack of transparency in the management arrangement agreed with the government, the displacement of communities, the failure to produce secure employment and the environmental impact on the East Nimba Nature Reserve.
Working for Development?
This report is a follow up to the briefing on ArcelorMittal’s performance in Liberia published in 2009, ‘ArcelorMittal: Going nowhere slowly – a review of the global steel giant’s environmental and social impacts in 2008-2009’. This report takes a more in depth look at the company’s activities in Liberia in terms of their contribution to the country’s development and highlights the failing of the County Social Development Fund in addressing the needs of communities impacted by the operations of ArcelorMittal. It examines the company’s performance in terms of its involvement with communities and its impact on health, social and environmental issues.
Curse or Cure?
This report throws a spotlight on Liberia’s fledgling oil and gas sector which is seeing increasing investment from US companies such as Chevron, who are rushing to begin exploration. An oil find in Liberia, which is still recovering from two natural resource fuelled civil wars, could provide desperately needed revenues if the industry is sufficiently reformed. But this report highlights that Liberia is not currently ready for oil without a comprehensive reform of the country’s oil and gas industry. It argues that Liberia must act now to ensure oil is not a curse for its people.
Briefings
What does the contract say? (Sime Darby)
This brief is a simplified version of the concession agreement between the Government of Liberia and Sime Darby dated July 23, 2009. It highlights key areas of concern related to community rights such as provisions within the contract to resettle communities, rights over natural resources and public mobility issues. It is for educational purposes only; for legal interpretations please refer to the original contract.
What does the contract say? (Goldren Veroleum Liberia)
This brief is a simplified version of the concession agreement between the Government of Liberia and Goldren Veroleum Liberia dated August 16, 2010. It highlights key areas of concern related to community rights such as details within the contract to on land use within the concession area, options for government to reclaim concession land and community development promises. It is for educational purposes only; for legal interpretations please refer to the original contract.
Echoes
Echo June 2012
This edition was a briefing for the Sanction+6 Conference on the Forestry Sector. It raises the issue of the lack of robust regulations for Private Use Permits (PUPs) which threatens to undermine the improved governance sought by the ratification of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the Government of Liberia and the Europe Union. It highlights the alarming rate that PUPs have been issued and the questionable issuance process. It concludes with several recommendations to ensure the integrity of the forestry sector reform process.
Echo August 2009
This edition focuses on two issues: the failure of the existing logging companies to honour their commitments and the fact that the overwhelming majority of the new bidders also do not have enough money to log. The Forestry Development Authority signed three contracts for large-scale concessions the companies that still owe fees to the government. This highlights that current logging concessions are not working and the FDA must ensure companies pay their fees or cancel their contracts. It recommends that new concessions must only be awarded to companies that meet the financial requirements.
Echo Special edition December 2008
This edition examines the Forestry Development Authority's (FDA) failure to implement the National Forestry Reform Law and Regulations as exposed by the UN Panel of Experts Report on the forest sector. It highlights the FDA has not implemented the law fully for example in regard to the allocation of timber concessions which renders the entire contracting process to date invalid. These findings prove that the FDA is undermining the reform process.
Echo Special edition September 2008
This edition focuses on a key question in Liberian society; 'Who owns the forests?' and debates this critical rural tenure issue. It examines the newly adopted Community Rights Law which recognises community ownership of forests and establishes the rights of local communities or forest dwellers to receive and control revenue from commercial activities on their forest lands. It highlights NGO's support for this new law and how community ownership is a step towards integrating economic growth with social justice in the forest sector.
Echo September 2008
This edition focuses on the Forestry Development Authority's violation of the National Forestry Reform Law (2006) and disregard for community rights in the allocation of two Timber Sale Contracts (TSCs) in Bokomu District and one Forest Management Contract (FMC) in Gou Nwolaila District. These contracts were issued, on deeded land belonging to the communities in these districts, in total disregard of their rights as land owners. This briefing concludes that the FDA is jeopardising the forest reform process by their actions and urges them to nullify the contracts and work with the communities to develop a way forward.