After decades of forestry mismanagement, the Liberia government has recently made moves to switch its forest policy from industrial logging to community forestry and conservation. In September 2014, Liberia signed a US$ 150 million agreement with Norway to preserve Liberia’s forests. The following year, in October 2015, the Liberian government co-hosted a conference aimed at developing a shared vision for Liberia’s forests and people, and to create practical plans to implement this vision.
This conference, called Rethinking Liberia’s Forests, was co-hosted by Global Witness, Rights and Resource Initiative, and the NGO Collation of Liberia. Full details, including comments made on behalf of H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian community members, and international experts, are available on the conference website: www.rethinkingliberiasforests.org. The final report summarizing the conference and the next steps participants thought should be taken to promote the new vision, can be downloaded here.