Liberia is situated on the West Coast of Africa and has a population of 2.5 million people with a growth rate of about 3.2 percent per annum (1990 estimates). The total land area of the country is 37,150 square miles (9,675,000 ha). Of this, high forests occupy 4.8 million ha or 49.8 percent of the total land area and National Forests and National Parks cover 2,085,898 ha (see Table 1 to Table 4). In the high forests, the extractable commercial timber volume is estimated to be 3.2 million cubic meters per annum, based on a 25-year felling cycle and an estimated commercial growing stock of 21.7 cubic metres per hectare.

There is no clearly defined land ownership and tenure in Liberia. However, in practice, in an effort to minimise conflict, forest land is allotted to the following three categories:

• Public land. This belongs to the state and includes the National Forests, nature reserves, National Parks and other protected areas.

• Private Land. This is land owned by private individuals, business entities and co-operatives. This is obtained by the granting of a public land deed by the GOL.

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

All forest areas (including forests outside the National Forests) are subject to charges, except privately owned forest plantations. The logging companies granted harvesting contracts and operating in the National Forests pay charges to the Government, while those operating on private and community lands pay charges to the owners (provided that they have legal title). The natural forests outside the National Forests are also state owned. These areas are granted to loggers for salvage operations. Part of the National Forests includes 570,334 ha for proposed parks and nature reserves.

In the Liberian forestry context, a productive forest is protected by law to prevent encroachment through shifting cultivation, although enforcement has been illusive. In such a forest, the stocking is usually high but is not split into protection and production forest categories. Many of the species that occur in such forests are not harvested because their physical and mechanical properties have not been established (and, hence, they are not traded in international markets). The term unproductive forest means logged-over and degraded forest area with low stocking. Such forest areas are usually granted to loggers for salvage operations for the extraction of commercial species and are later allotted to farmers for agricultural purposes.

Artificial forest plantations, National Parks and nature reserves cover 10,158 ha and 701,087 ha respectively (see Table 4 and Table 5). However, most of the figures in Table 1 to Table 5 have certainly changed due to the recent civil crises.

The forest is a potential source of revenue for economic development in Liberia. The sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and foreign exchange earnings, prior to the civil crisis, ranged from 4-8 percent and 5-9 percent respectively (Table 6 and Table 7).

With respect to forest land granted for the purpose of logging, all investment agreements are negotiated with the relevant agencies, including: the National Investment Commission (NIC); the Forestry Development Authority (FDA); the Ministry of Finance (MOF); and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). An agreement becomes binding when approved by the President of the Republic of Liberia.

The forest harvesting agreement is called a Forest Products Utilization Agreement (FPUA) and these are divided into different size classes, each of which has different obligations. These are summarised as follows:

1. Class A Agreement: A Class A Agreement holder is entitled to a minimum of 2,000,000 acres (800,000 ha) of forest land. The holder of a Class A Agreement is required to develop and install a large‑scale integrated wood processing industry comprising of a sawmill, veneer, plywood, or particleboard mill, along with kiln drying facilities, preservation plants and disposable sawdust and waste facilities.

2. Class B Agreement: A Class B Agreement holder is entitled to a minimum of 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) up to a maximum of 1,999,000 acres (799,600 ha) of forest land. The holder of a Class B Agreement is required to develop a medium‑scale wood processing industry, comprising of a sawmill and/or kiln drying and wood treatment facilities.

3. Class C Agreement: A Class C Agreement holder is entitled to a minimum of 300,000 acres or (120,000 ha) of forestland. Only Liberians are eligible to hold a Class C Forest Products Utilization Agreement. The holder of a Class C Agreement is required to develop a small‑scale wood processing industry, comprising of a sawmill and/or kiln drying facilities.

The duration of an Agreement is for a period of twenty-five years (one felling cycle), with an annual felling coupe of four percent of the total area. Agreements are renewable upon expiry. The instrument under which the above arrangement became law is the New National Forestry Law, published on 11 December 2000.

The export of timber and timber products (mostly roundwood) accounts for about 64 percent of total annual production. The new National Forestry Law (NFL) empowers the FDA to control and supervise the harvesting and export of timber, timber products and other forest products. In light of this, there are a number of prescribed forms (documents) that must be completed and approved before shipment is allowed. These documents include the following:

• Export waybill;

• Specification of species;

• Sale contracts receipt (SCR);

• Sale contracts (SC);

• Export permit request (EPR);

• FDA clearance, and

• Export permit approved by the FDA.