Liberia National Carbon Strategy – Capacity-building and design of community forestry pilots

Liberia is positioned at the forefront of global thinking and action on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation. As Liberia recovers from the devastating impacts of a 14-year civil war, the government is working to increase funding and capacity to effectively manage natural resources for the benefit of the population and biological diversity. The Government of Liberia has designed its national forest strategy based on the “3C” approach, integrating community, conservation, and commercial uses of the forest, while emphasizing job creation and community incentives. The vision of this project is to develop the capacity to plan, implement and monitor successful pilots linked to the creation of an expanded protected area system in Liberia. This will require building capacity at national, meso and local levels. Present project will build consensus and capacity for the 1st protected area pilots under the Liberia National Carbon Strategy. The two initial protected areas for pilot locations are: Lake Piso and Wonegizi. The proposed Lake Piso Nature Reserve is about 51,459 ha, situated on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Grand Cape Mount County, southwestern Liberia bordering Sierra Leone and is a very important catchment’s area. It was proposed as a future nature reserve in 1983 and is now one of top three sites prioritized by government to join the official protected area network The Wonegizi proposed protected areas covers 71,226 hectares. This mountain range, which includes Liberia's highest peak, Mt. Wutewe (1,424m), form the most important mountain region in Liberia apart from Mt. Nimba and is the highest peak in Liberia. The Ganese base NGO NCRC elaborated the plan in close collaboration with government and NGOs. In present project NCRC will assist the local Liberian NGO’s SNCL & FACE (Lake Piso) and SADS ( Wonegizi) in implementing the pilots locally. The outputs from this project will include the following: national capacity status and needs identified through Liberia Capacity Assessment Report, national consensus achieved on the priority pilot locations and implementation partnerships, M&E system for pilots designed and approved, agro-forestry and PES capacity of Liberian government and civil society entities increased, protected area pilots designed, reviewed and approved for implementation for Lake Piso and Wonegizi areas, international consortium in place to support implementation of initial pilots and initial public awareness of the process and pilots in Liberia is developed.

The project has made great progress towards the building of local NGO capacity in the environmental sector and in the design of community-managed forestry pilot projects in two important conservation areas for the expansion of Liberia’s protected area network. In collaboration with other project stakeholders, NCRC concluded a capacity assessment of the environmental sector in Liberia including 14 local non-governmental organizations and 2 governmental organizations. An extensive report entitled Capacity Assessment of Environmental Organizations in Liberia in Preparation for REDD has been produced and distributed to all stakeholders outlining results from this research. Liberian stakeholders in the environmental sector participated in 2 study tours to Ghana (one with 8 non-governmental representatives and one with 8 governmental representatives) to learn from successful community forestry activities there. Reports highlighting experiences and lessons learned were completed at the end of each tour by the Liberian teams. Field surveys were completed in the Lake Piso and Wonegizi Proposed Protected Areas to determine potential for community forestry initiatives. Research results were summarized in 2 comprehensive individual reports as follows: Wonegizi Assessment Report: Community Forestry Survey at Ziama Clan, Zorzor District and Lake Piso Assessment Report: Community Forestry Survey at Tewor District. A collaborative report- and proposal-writing process was completed to strengthen document preparedness for organizational leaders within the 4 Liberian implementing institutions. Together, the leading stakeholders have set priorities for further action, charting the way forward for long-term, self-sustaining community forestry programming in Liberia. Follow-on proposals supporting implementation activities at the 2 pilot sites are being prepared for funding consideration by IUCN-NL. These proposals will be completed and submitted shortly. As a result of project activities, the goal of building consensus and capacity for the 1st protected area pilots under the Liberia National Carbon Strategy has been achieved. To date, the Initiative has built a solid foundation supported by data, documentation, and positive working relationships.