ANNEX VIII: COUNTRY REPORT (Cont.)

LIBERIA

by

Anthony J. Taplah⁶

INTRODUCTION

Liberia is situated on the West Coast of Africa, with Guinea in the North, Côte d'Ivoire in the East, Sierra Leone in the West and Atlantic Ocean in the south. It has a total land area of 43 000 square miles. Liberia is rich in biodiversity: it has the greater portion of Upper Guinea classified as Tropical Rainforest (about 43%). However, present data/information on the forest ecosystem is obsolete and there is need to upgrade this data using modern scientific methods.

Liberia's civil war ended with holding free and fair elections (July 19, 1997). This election ushered a democratically elected government. The general political situation improved significantly both in rural and urban areas. The atmosphere for investments has now improved with increased security (last check-point in the city of Monrovia being dismantled).

CONTEXT OF FORESTRY

Economy and economic policy

Prior to the Liberian civil war, the economy depended heavily on the mining sector, with agriculture also playing a significant role. The forestry sector contribution to the GDP and foreign exchange earning (prior to war) ranged from 4-8% and 5-9%, respectively from 1983 - 1989 (see tables 1 - 4).

Liberia has a free enterprise system: there are sets of investment codes that encourages investment in the private sector. Tax incentives are granted to investors by the National Investment Commission and the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with relevant agencies of government.

Importance of forestry in the economy

Table 1: Export share of export products (in % of total export value) (planning and development Atlas 1983)

Exports	1971	1975	1978
Iron Ore	65.1	72.2	56.2
Rubber	13.2	10.9	14.2
Diamond	11.4	6.7	6.2
Logs & Sawn Timber	2.8	3.1	11.37
Coffee	1.6	1.0	5.2
Cocoa	0.5	1.0	3.1
Main Export Products	94.6	95.0	96.2

Table 2: Forestry contribution to foreign exchange earnings (major export 1983 - 1987 million US$)

N°	Production/year	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
1	Iron ore	267.3	279.0	279.4	248.4	817.8
2	Rubber	73.1	91.1	77.1	80.7	89.4
3	Logs and Lumber	23.5	23.5	25.0	33.0	35.7
4	Diamond	17.2	10.9	4.7	6.4	11.0
5	Coffee	18.2	13.7	27.3	16.2	10.0
6	Cocoa	11.5	15.3	11.2	8.9	6.0
7	Other Exports	6.8	5.4	5.4	6.2	3.5
	Total FOB	427.6	452.1	435.6	408.6	385.2
	% of Logs & timber in FOB	5%	5%	6%	8%	9%

Table 3: Contribution of forestry taxes to government revenue in million US$

Table 4: Forestry contribution to annual GDP

Social and human context for forestry

The strategic location of the forest resources in the hinterland helped in mobilising the labour force in the rural areas; this also sustained the cash-flow of forest communities. Thus prior to the war about fifty companies were engaged in timber extraction and processing activities, employing over 25 000 people in the sector. However, the catastrophic effects of the civil war saw the total destruction of the logging equipment and processing plants: a total of 18 sawmills, 3 veneer and plymills, several kiln-drying plants and wood treatment plants.

Presently, with the resumption of forestry activities, there are about 10 000 people gainfully employed in the sector. In addition to these, the sector serves as a means of technology transfer; it also provides means of rehabilitating major highways and feeder roads in Liberia.

FOREST RESOURCES

Land ownership

There are several categories of land ownership in Liberia:

Public land is land belonging to central government and includes national forests, nature reserves, national parks and other protected areas.

Private land is land owned by private individuals, entities, corporations or cooperatives. These are obtained by the granting of a public land deed from the Government of Liberia.

Communal land is land set aside for the exclusive use of local communities for purposes other than logging.

Land-use

There is no specific land-use policy in Liberia. The Government needs the help of the international community in developing a land-use policy.

Natural forest resources

Area and volume: The total land area including wet lands is 43 000 square miles. The natural forest contains over 2 000 species of flowering plants, several mammals, 590 bird species, 74 reptiles and other amphibian species and over 1 000 species of insects. This makes the biodiversity reserve in Liberia very interesting and attractive. The vegetation type and natural forest composition are shown in Table 5 and 6 respectively.

Additionally, the geographic distribution of the national forest, with a total of 1 384 811 hectares, is given in Table 7 below; while Table 8 contains the areas of National Parks, proposed National Parks and nature reserves.

The last survey/inventory of the volume of the forest resources, conducted in 1985, puts the reserve at 83.0 million cubic meters. This reserve, if managed sustainably, can be perpetuated indefinitely.

Change of area and volume over time: During and following the civil war, there were/are several factors influencing the shrinking of the forest resource base: noticeable shifting cultivation and human settlements. During the war, people sought refuge in national forest areas and other protected areas. Today, these settlers, along with their farming activities, pose a serious threat to these forest ecosystem and the environment. Thus a re-survey is necessary to ascertain actual forest area and standing volume.

Table 5: Vegetation type

Vegetation type	%	acres
High forest	46.7	11 267 500
Swamp forest	.2	47 500
Plantations	0.1	25 395
Farmland and regrowth	52.0	11 451 215
Non-forested swamps	0.1	19 840
Mangroves	0.2	55 040
Savannah	0.4	90 240
Grasslands	0.2	52 480
Others	0.4	90 240
		24 099 430

Table 6: Natural forest composition

Types	hectares (million)	%
Undisturbed productive(protective forest)	1.70	35
Disturbed production (unprotected productive)	2.18	45
Sub - total	3.88	80
Disturbed unproductive	0.82	17
	4.70	97

Source: FDA 1998 ANNUAL REPORT

Table 7: Geographical distribution of national forest

North west Liberia	County	Area (ha)
Gola National Forest	Grand Cape Mount	206 995
Kpelle National Forest	Lofa	174 828
Yormah National Forest	Lofa	2 649
North Lormah National Forest	Lofa	71 226
Lormah Forest	Lofa	43 506
Sub - total		499 204
South - East Liberia
Grebo National Forest	Grand Gedeh	267 306
Krah - Bassa National Forest	Grand Gedeh	513 962
Gio National Forest	Nimba	32 930
North Gio National Forest	Nimba	4 440
Gbi National Forest	Nimba	66 969
Sub total		885 606
Grand total		1 384 811

Table 8: Nature reserves and parks

Sites	County	Hectares
* SAPO	Sinoe	130 747
**Cape Mount/Lake Piso	Grand Cape Mount	22 420
** Wologizi & Wonegisi Mountaine	Lofa	20 235
** Cavalla	Maryland/Grand Gedeh	12 000
** Mount Nimba	Nimba	20 000
** Cest/Sehnmen	Sinoe	144 800
**Lofa/Mano	Lofa	208 120
Total		558 312

* Only proclaimed park; ** Proposed park

Planted forest resources

Area and volume: Reforestation activities on plantation establishment started in Liberia in early 70's. This programme suffered a several setback due to government policies in the past. As a result, during a three decade period, only 10,158 hectares were planted with both indigenous and exotic species. These plantations, listed in Table 9, were poorly maintained and thus did not receive the right silvicultural treatments on time. As a result, data regarding volume of standing trees in the plantations is unavailable.

Table 9: Artificial, plantation, forests

Sites	Hectares
Bomi Hills	3 521
Cavallo	1 113
Glaro	1 012
Yekepa/Kpeytuo	844
Trial Industrial Plantation	1 416
Brewerville Fuelwood	40
Foya Afforestation	1 416
Others	1 174
Total	10 158

During the course of the civil war, some local inhabitants made farms on some plantation areas. Forest fires destroyed some areas planted, other areas were harvested. However, the management of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) continues to expand the FOYA Plantation at an annual rate of 500 hectares. Notwithstanding, there is a need to establish the actual planted area.

FOREST PRODUCTS PRODUCTION, TRADE AND CONSUMPTION

Roundwood

A number of roundwood in the form of poles, posts and rafters are harvested annually from the forest for housing construction in both rural and urban areas. Actual statistics regarding number and volume is lacking. However, a number of urban dwellers are engaged in the marketing and sales of these products; but do not pay taxes to government. This is a loss of revenue to national government.

Table 10: Production and actual export (round logs)

Year	Production 000M3	Export 000M3	FOB value (US$000)
1983*	334	223	28 022
1984	317	183	22 568
1985	410	258	33 369
1986	540	358	48 973
1987	810	281	34 587
1988	1 008	681	84 774
1989	949	621	70 346
1992*	14	7.0	N.A.***
1993**	2	0.3	N.A
1994**	3	2.0	N.A
1995**	11	9.0	N.A
1996	28	24.0	6 484
1997	69	62.0	7 525
1998	157	80.6	12 288
1999	215	144	17 000

* 1983 - 1989 Production by 36 active logging & swan timber companies

** 1992 - 1995 No sufficient data due to war intensification

*** Not available.

Industrial roundwood

This is the volume of round logs harvested from the forests by forest concession or forest products' utilization agreement holders. The volumes and FOB values of products harvested from 1983 to 1999 are shown in Table 10. According to this table, the highest volume harvested prior to the war was in 1988. Following the sharp decline during the war years, production is beginning to move upward.

Sawnwood

Statistics on sawn timber produced is available for the pre-war year. Due to the complete destruction of the sawmills, data collection is now difficult and scanty. Production is being done presently by illegal loggers using chain/power saws.

However, government is exerting all efforts to collect data from the few sawmills that were installed and that were operational in 1999. Therefore, statistics regarding sawn timber production, trade and consumption will be available in the FDA 1999 annual report.

Wood based panels, pulp, paper and paper board

Prior to the war, statistics/data was available for wood based panels that were produced at the then existing facilities in the county. However, pulp, paper and paper board were never produced in Liberia. These forest products continue to be imported into Liberia (although rich in forest as it is), the present democratically elected government of Liberia is advocating the establishment of integrated wood processing plants by major forest concessionaires.

Table 11: Actual export per destination and FOB value (January - December, 1998)

Destination	Volume/m3	Percentage %	FOB value US $
France	47 110 854	58.41	8 387 432.68
Italy	11 341 582	14.06	1 427 642.55
Turkey	7 957 440	9.87	700 750.96
Portugal	5 807 386	7.20	615 292.64
Spain	4 467 989	5.54	678 021.23
West Germany	3 731 000	4.63	415 548.69
Greece	160 159	0.20	55 265.69
Tunisia	54 513	0.07	6 814.13
Malaysia	13 699	0.02	1 364.59
TOTAL	80 645 622	100	12 288 133.06

OTHER FORESTRY PRODUCTS AND ROLES

Woodfuels and wood energy

Before the Liberian civil war, other forms of energy were available and utilized locally for cooking, baking and heating purposes; among these were electricity, natural gas, kerosene stoves and kerosene. But with the destruction of hydro-electric plant during the war, Monrovia and its environs suffered a major set back in terms of energy supply.

This made people to switch to the use of fire wood and charcoal for energy needs. Thus the utilisation of wood as a source of energy was reverted to. This resulted in the increased production and consumption of ordinary wood bundles and charcoal. However, the gathering of data has been difficult due to uncooperative attitude of producers, lack of logistics and the lack of trained manpower.

The FDA has promulgated Regulation N° 23 to place a monitorium on the production and consumption of woodfuels. Despite this high pressure remains on the forest.

Wood supplies from non forest areas

The increased production and consumption of woodfuels which is observed in Liberia has seriously affected non forest areas. This resulted in ornamental plants and fruit trees being felled during the war. Later, this extended to small woodlots in and around the city. This destruction finally reached the rubber farms along the major highways. However, production and consumption figures have not been quantified.

Non-wood forest products

The major non-wood forest products found on the Liberian market are rattan and bamboo. Palm wine is also available. But again, quantitative data on production and consumption is not available. However, citizens are harvesting and transforming the NWFP into finished goods and individuals and families are generating cash income from these activities without paying taxes to central government.

Recreation and tourism

A very small number of city dwellers go to the forest for recreation. Rural dwellers utilize the forest more for recreation.

Regarding tourism, activities at the famous SAPO National Park have been reactivated following the war. The country has received a limited number of guest that have visited the park.

In an effort to promote eco-tourism in Liberia, plans are underway to proclaim additional parks and nature reserves. These are listed on Table 8.

FORESTRY POLICIES, LEGISLATION AND INSTITUTIONS

Forest management law and policy

The forest policy of Liberia is incorporated into the Act of 1976 which created the FDA. The Act provides for the management, conservation, sustainable development and utilisation to their most productive use for the social and economic benefits of the people of Liberia.

The forest management plan stipulates that a concessionaire can work on 4% of his total forest area annually (ANNUAL COUPE) while observing the diameter cut limit and the preparation and submission of stock maps.

Investments in forestry and forest products

Investments here have been very slow to come by due to the heavy losses sustained by investors during the war. However, due to the improved security situation in the country, it is anticipated that investments in forestry and forest products will be accelerated.

Institutional strengthening and capacity building

The present state of the forestry sector calls for a re-visitation of existing forest administration, management, conversation prescriptions, and control instruments. Pressure on forests from shifting cultivation and other forms of land uses such as mining and human settlement, have increased the rate of deforestation.

Moreover, since the commencement of forestry activities in the late fifties, "logging" has been the centre of concentration. Nature conservation - in true scientific sense - has not been focussed with respect to international conservation requirements and standards. Liberia is lagging far behind in the implementation of programmes and projects that will benefit the rural dwellers. Also the development and promotion of reforestation, agro-forestry, social forestry, and community programmes have not receive the attention they deserve. To cope with these complexities and advance of technology in all aspects of forestry such as harvesting, processing, marketing and planting, Liberia requires to adopt International Forest Management, Conservation and Utilisation Standards. This must be so because the Management Conservation and sustainable development of forest management requires tailored sectorial policies and new instruments such as trading of global forest benefits, certification and labelling.

In respect of the above, the Forestry Development Authority's agenda for the 21^st Century is to embark on the implementation of the development of good forestry closely in line with requirements and standards adopted by international timber organisations and nature conservation organisations such as: International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO); African Timber Organisation (ATO); International Union For the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), etc.. The Authority should be under a re-organized and restructured forestry administration capable of managing and conserving the nation's forests and related resources in consonance with contemporary nature conservation practices. The primary concerns in the forestry sector will no longer be logging operations.

The strategies are as follows:

STRATEGY I: Down-sizing the Administration of the Forestry Development Authority:

The administration of the FDA should be re-organized and re-structured with the view of making it more efficient. The number of sections are to be down-sized from 31 to 15 (a reduction of 52%). Besides, most of the non-essential employees should be dropped and only qualified and efficient staff should be retained.

This reduction is realistic as the current proliferation of sections, accompanied by the increase of staff, was imposed on FDA by factional administration during the 7 years of civil crisis. The increase in staff became a financial burden which the FDA found extremely difficult to cope with (now and in the future). The aim of downsizing staff is to have in place a small but efficient FDA, capable of implementing SFM and conservation programmes.

STRATEGY II: New Approach to Forest Management and Conservation in Liberia

Promulgating and vigorously enforcing forest policy objectives on harvesting, processing and exporting of wood products; install control instruments with the view of maximizing the forestry sector's contribution to the people and nation;

Carrying out forest management and conservation within the framework of established and agreed plans acceptable to all local land users and international timber and nature conservation organisations (ITTO, ATO, IUCN, etc.);

Putting in place, in collaboration with other land-use ministries and agencies, plans for the review of the land-tenure system to enhance integration of forestry with other land use practise;

Designing policies and plans that will emphasize the protective values of the forests - against the traditional production orientation (logging) of the forest;

Promoting adequately the importance of the forests in regards to recreation and ecotourism which is internationally on the increase;

Initiating the enactment of legislation that will stop rural dwellers moving into the national high forest to erect structures for permanent settlements and to carry out farming and hunting;

Encouraging and promoting effective wood production as a contributing factor to rural development;

Reducing the number of logging concessionaires to about 10 with the view of prolonging the life-span of the forest cover, and ensuring sustainable forest management practices;

Promoting industrialisation in the forestry sector (increase the local processing) to ensure maximisation of benefits in the forest sector through the diversification of forest products produced;

Conducting conservation education awareness programmes for the public and for those having political responsibilities: to make them appreciate the productive and protective functions of forests, thus enable them to draw up appropriate legislation for the management and conservation of the forests;

Concentration of reforestation activities in Savanna and degraded areas, instead of clearing the high forests to plant exotic species, the management and conservation of the forest;

Encourage the use of local species in plantation establishment;

Promoting and enforcing the employment of Liberian Foresters to managerial and professional positions in the logging and processing industries;

Promoting marketing of minor non wood forest products. The use and trade of NWFP have made an important contribution to the economics of many countries. These products are essential to the food security and income of rural dwellers. Examples of such products are mushrooms, rattan, honey, nuts and medicinal plants, to name a few.

STRATEGY II: Strengthening of Training Institutions

Today, contemporary forestry activities are complex because they require advanced technologies in harvesting, processing, marketing and planting. But more than anything, they depends on trained and qualified manpower equipped with appropriate requisite skills and knowledge to plan and implement effective nature conservation and programmes. The availability of the acceptable cadres of technicians and professionals greatly depend on the quality of the facilities of existing forestry training institutions in the country.

Prior to the seven year of civil crisis, there were 2 forestry training institutions operational in Liberia:

the college of Agriculture & Forestry (CAFUL), University of Liberia at Fendall; and

the Forestry Training Institute (FTI) situated in Tubmanburg.

The war destroyed these facilities and greatly hamper the teaching and instructions at these institutions. The renovation and improvement of the facilities at the training institutions are very slow. The facilities at the CAF are to some extent renovated and staff recruited. These facilities are grossly inadequate. As for the FTI, the facilities are not yet been renovated.

The FDA and the logging companies are the major employers of the forestry graduates from these institutions. Therefore, for the FDA and the operational companies the government must consider complete renovation of facilities at the Main and Fendall campuses; provide and acquire up-to-date text books, periodicals and journals; Recruit qualified full-time instructors and professors; Acquire and install a Forest Products Research Laboratory (FPRL) to be used jointly by CAF, FTI and FDA; and Re-establish the Harley's herbarium that was an integral part of the FPR1.)

STRATEGY IV: Human Resource Development at the FDA

The current level of trained and qualified employees is very low which poses bottlenecks in the effective and timely planning and implementation of sustainable forestry programmes/projects, enforcement of forest policy objectives, regulations and other operational control instruments (mechanism);

Strengthening the forestry administration in Liberia depend to a large extent on the capability of administration and technicians mandated to plan, implement, coordinate, and supervise forestry operations;

Need for the availability of adequate, trained and qualified manpower; need for the training of staff for a new forest administration in Liberia.

One of the FDA post-war reconstruction initiatives is to offer training opportunities to employees with the view of enabling them to contribute meaningfully to the enhancement of SFM, conservation, and utilisation and environmental protection.

The training should be pursued over a period of 10 years on 3 levels, namely:

Vocational (High School Diploma or Equivalent): number of students = 65,

Technical B.Sc. Courses: number of students = 32,

Professional MSc specialisation: number of students = 19,

Grand total of 116 students.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The Government of Liberia has established the National Environmental Commission of Liberia (NECOLIB). All forest concessionaires are being mandated by the FDA to work in the forestry sector in accordance with internationally acceptable principles and practices applicable to forestry operations and timber processing. Thus they are required to avoid waste of the flora and fauna and prevent pollution and contamination of the environment, including soil and watersheds.

TAXATION

Several fees are charged by Government in the forestry sector; among these are:

for felling a tree. It is US$1.50 per cubic meter harvested irrespective of species;

industrialisation Incentive Fee, charged for export. It varies from US$1.44/m³ to US$58.56/m³ according to species;

reforestation Fees, charged to carry out reforestation activities. The rate charged is US$5.00/m³ irrespective of species;

conservation Fees is charged for conservation purposes. It varies from US$2.50/m³ to US$4.00/m³ of logs harvested according to species;

forestry Research fees is charged to ensure that research is conducted in the forestry sector. The rate is US$1.00/m³ harvested irrespective of species;

land Rental Fees are taxes charged for holding a public forest land as concession. The rates are US$0.50 and 0.30 per acre per annum respectively for concession and salvage.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ISSUES

In Liberia, plans are underway to have indigenous people be involved in forestry programmes. It is recognized that they are part of the stakeholders. The participatory approach will make them to be involved in project planning and implementation. This approach has been adopted in reforestation, wildlife conservation and park management programmes.

THE OUTLOOK FOR FOREST RESOURCES

Liberia has still a sizeable portion of its land area under forest cover. This forest is rich in vast biodiversity but is dwindling due to forest degradation and deforestation caused by man. However, demands of various forest products are expected to increase both for the domestic and international markets.

CONCLUSION

A vivid picture of the forestry sector in Liberia was presented above: the country is rich in biodiversity but data on this vast potential is out-dated and needs to be upgraded.

The collection, analysis and dissemination of information needs to be well planned. Through proper planning, it will be made clear as to who is collecting data, what sort of data is collected, how is it collected and why has it been collected.

Information on the forest resource is essential to government for the introduction of inter-sectorial planning approaches; this involves all stakeholders, including government, the private sector, non governmental organisations (NGO's) and local communities.

In addition to having more data on the forest resources, data production and consumption data of various wood and wood based products and non wood forest products are needed. This is possible to keep statistics on a well organized and computerized system.

Finally, it is clear that to achieve these goals and objectives, capacity building including training and development of the human resources are necessary. Some of these capacity building exercises can be conducted locally through institutional strengthening.

SOURCES

Forestry Development Authority 1998 Annual Report.

Forest Policy Review: toward vision 2024. 21^st century approach to the development of the forestry sector of Liberia.

Unpublished data from the Compilation of Data for the 1999 FDA Annual Report.

Planning and Development Atlas, 1983.

Government of Liberia Economic System 1976 - 1978.

6 Presently, he is the Deputy Managing Director for Operations at the Forestry development authority. He is also deputy Associate Commission for operations at the National Environmental Commission of Liberia (NECOLIB) and the focal point in Liberia for the Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA).

7 Note: there was no data available for «wildlife in trade» for Liberia, and the value of bush meat, live animals and animal by products value in the National economy.