On 05 – 09 August the Swedish Embassy in Liberia and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative a.i. were on a field mission to monitor project sites in Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, and Lofa Counties.

The monitoring team visited Takpoima in Gbarpolu, Gbarma Lumeh, Varguaye and Benduma in Grand Cape Mount, and Salayea in Lofa Counties to engage project beneficiaries.

UNDP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in partnership with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) are implementing the four-year project, titled “Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management (CBFM)”, funded by the Swedish Embassy.

Now in its third year, the project’s main objective is to boost biodiversity conservation and improve the livelihoods of Forest-Fringe/Forest-Dependent Communities and Groups in Liberia.

It seeks to strengthen the management of community forests and protected areas in Liberia through improved governance of community forest management bodies, capacity building of forest regulatory institutions, empowerment of national CSOs/NGOs and Forest and Farm Producer Organizations, integrated natural resources management and the promotion of sustainable livelihood incentives for forest fringe communities.

The Swedish Embassy representative Mr. Jenkins Flahwor expressed the importance of monitoring project sites and engaging with beneficiaries to inform donors about the progress. 

Flahwoh is happy that the communities have welcomed the project and are committed to improving their livelihood with less pressure on the forests.

Similarly, the UNDP Resident Representative Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah a.i. said he was impressed to see the project sites and engage with enthusiastic beneficiaries who expressed their satisfaction about the activities and the changes it has brought to them.

Both Benduma and Varquaye have their fields close to the forest. Technicians were contracted through the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL) to train beneficiaries on how to plough rice, mitigate climate change and prevent elephants from destroying their fields.

“Nine years ago, before this project, we were unable to harvest because the elephants would come out of the forest and damage our crops”, said Juma Dambah, the chair lady of the group in Varguaye town project site in Grand Cape Mount County. 

Dambah and her colleagues said knowledge acquired from technicians helps them protect their crops and fields from the invasion of elephants and mitigate climate change.

The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) Strategic Planning and Policy Manager Joseph Duolupeh and a team from the Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL) also formed part of the monitoring mission.

Under this project, approximately 140 people, (73 women and 67 men) in Benduma and Varguaye towns in Grand Cape Mount are reached through lowland rice production. In other communities, the project focuses on forest biodiversity conservation. 

The project also works closely with 80 Eco-Guards whose responsibility is to ensure that no illegal activities occur in the forests.

Liberia has an estimated forest area of 6.6 million hectares with enormous biodiversity. It faces several threats and challenges including deforestation where residents heavily rely on the forests for firewood and hunting.