June 26, 2023. Monrovia. The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has received from Fauna & Flora International, a sub-awardee of the USAID Conservation Works activity, a Good Park Neighbor Policy (GPNP) for the management of the Sapo National Park and its surrounding forest areas. The Sapo National Park is Liberia's oldest protected area wherein competing activities in areas contiguous to its boundary are generating negative environmental and social impacts.
The GPNP promotes good governance, drawing from the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, which encourages "participation of all citizens in the protection and management of natural resources", to foster a collaborative approach in the sustainable management of the Sapo National Park and surrounding landscape. This is critical to maintaining the Park's ecological integrity, enhancing connectivity with adjacent forested areas, and protecting the interests of rightsholders and other stakeholders living adjacent to the park.
The policy was developed during a regional workshop held in Zwedru City, Grand Gedeh County from 28-30 March 2023. The workshop was attended by over 100 participants, from communities around Sapo National Park, government representatives, NGOs and civil society.
The overall goal of the GPNP jointly defined by stakeholders is "to contribute to a well-managed and ecologically thriving Sapo Landscape, where collaborative and inclusive landscape management promotes respect for the rule of law and enhances the socio-economic well-being of the communities empowered to protect biodiversity." It has several guiding principles including: 1) to accelerate the government's commitment to conserve 30% of its forested land, 2) recognition of communities' role in managing forests and the need to collaborate with them, 3) the need to scale up livelihood interventions to demonstrate the benefits of conservation, 4) traditional knowledge is vital in conserving biological diversity, and 5) private sector actors must be held accountable for sound environmental practices within and adjacent to their concession areas.
In response to the policy presentation, the Deputy Managing Director of FDA, Mr. Joseph Tally, expressed his deep satisfaction and described the exercise as "extremely timely and beneficial." He continued that "the policy lays the groundwork for the sustainable management of Sapo National Park through a collaborative approach that involves all stakeholders and significantly mitigates confrontation with the communities." Following the presentation of the policy to the FDA, a regional validation will take place to solicit the feedback of key stakeholders before the final policy is endorsed by the FDA Board of Directors.
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In 2022, several discussions were held regarding the roles of different stakeholders within the Sapo Landscape towards managing, protecting, and supporting the national park and adjoining forest areas. At the regional workshop in Zwedru City, diverse stakeholder groups operating within the Sapo Landscape and possessing influence over the activities that could undermine or promote the Park's management participated. Issues pertaining to the overall goal of management, existing threats, attending benefits, roles and responsibilities of different actors including community members, and activities to be undertaken to promote Sapo National Park were discussed over a three-day period. At the end of the workshop, delegates agreed on a roadmap for managing the Sapo Landscape in a more collaborative manner to mitigate impacts from human activities but also called for a mechanism through which the benefits are equitably distributed. Thereafter, key decisions from the workshop were analyzed and developed into the GPNP for the landscape.
The development of the GPNP was jointly funded by USAID through its Conservation Works (CW) activity and the Liberia Forest Sector Project (LFSP) Southeast Cluster Project through IDH.
The CW activity is a 5-year program that supports conservation efforts in Liberia. The program is being implemented by EcoHealth Alliance, in partnership with Fauna & Flora International (FFI), Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (LCRP), Partners in Development (PADEV), and Solimar International.
