Big Boost for Forest Governance in Liberia as community forest residents applaud FAO and partners for receiving approved Forest Management Plan

Hundreds of residents of the Sarbo, Putupo and Gbeapo authorized forest community in River Gee County were seen in a jubilant mood after the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) of Liberia officially delivered the Community Forest Management Plan (CFMP) – a strategic document that the forest community dwellers have desired for a long time.

The document delivery ceremony, which was held on Wednesday, 7 May 2025, was marked by dances, singing of traditional songs and making of speeches resonated well with the forest community members, with many of them expressing deep appreciation to all those who help them for the development of the plan.

Approved by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the CFMP is one of the major objectives of the “Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management (CBFM) project” being jointly implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. Working through local NGOs, (the Nature Compact, Sustainable Development Institute, Partners in Development and Foundation for Community Initiative) a total of five applicant community forests amounting to about 70, 024 hectares in Grand Cape Mount, Gpapolu, River Cess, Sinoe and River Gee, have been demarcated in line with the Community Rights law which gives communities power to manage their forest.

During the presentation ceremony of the approved forest management plan, Steven Freeman, who represented the FDA on a joint project monitoring visit from 4-10 May 2025, said the FDA was pleased with the three communities that decided to work together and go through all the processes required to obtain the document.  He began by handing the plan over to Jonathan Yah, a representative of the SDI – a local NGO, contracted by FAO to work closely with the community forest management body of the different communities to formulate the plan. In like manner, Yah turned the Community Forest Management Plan over to the FAO Programmed Management Specialist, Abenego Mehn.

In his remark, Mehn thanked the communities for working with the SDI and encouraged them to now consider the plan as a guide for sustainably managing their forest and creating livelihood opportunities for the community members. He later turned over the CFMP to the FAO Representative for Programme, Musa Sanoe, who in turn handed it to Jenkins Flahwor, a representative of the Embassy of Sweden during the joint field mission.

In his remark, Jenkins, who works as Program Officer for Natural Resources, Climate Change and Forestry at the Swedish Embassy near Monrovia, expressed delight with the level of work done so far by the forest communities, demonstrated by their commitment to supporting the processes that led to their development and signing of their CFMP.

“I want to say thank you to UNDP, FAO, SDI and especially the community for coming this far. So, for us from the Swedish Embassy we are happy for this plan because it proves that the money the embassy has provided is yielding fruits”

He added that though the crafting and approval of the forest management plan is good, it is equally important that the community implement what is contained in the plan.

Flahwor further clarified that the plan is just a paper, and that “this paper is just the first step of the real work that is supposed to be done.

“The main thing now is how the plan is implemented to bring the benefits needed to the communities. I’m sure the plan contains what is needed to sustainably manage the forest.

The real concern now, is how we can support the communities to do the things that are in this plan. Because if we do not support the communities to do what is contained in this paper, this paper will remain lying down, and people will still go back to the forest.”

Following these statements, the Swedish Embassy representative turned over the document to Bleede Oliver Wooe, Chief Officer of the Community Forest Management Body (CFMB) of the Putupo Gbeapo, and Sarbo Community Forest.

Receiving the forest management plan on behalf of the authorized forest community, Wooe remarked with these comments.

“We want to firstly thank all the partners for helping us to obtain this document. This is the document we’ve long been waiting for as a community. This plan provides directions on how to set different use zones to serve different purposes. In this plan, we have a part of our forest that will be set aside for conservation; in this same plan, we have a part of our forest that will be used for livelihood activities; in this plan, we have a part that we can use for farming and small-scale logging for construction.

So, I am encouraging my fellow citizens, not to go into the forest and start using it anyhow. From this moment onwards, the Community Forest Management Body will be very rigid on people who go against the implementation of this plan.”

For decades, the forests of Liberia, with their enormous high conservation values, have been home to many, providing food, medicine, spiritual comfort, economic opportunities, and shelter, but not without threats. 

With the implementation of the CBFM project, communities’ hopes in managing their forests are being restored as forest governance structures are being set up and provided with technical and operational support. The project is giving residents of forested communities a renewed sense of ownership and pride as it provides institutional and capacity-building support.