Liberia: SDI, Partners to Host 7th Regional Forum On Forest Governance

18 November 2024
Liberian Observer (Monrovia)

To enhance the knowledge and capacity of community members and other stakeholders, the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) and partners will host the seventh regional forum in Ganta, Nimba County, focusing on forest, land, and environmental issues. The event will take place on November 21 and 22, 2024. It is a bi-annual event organized and implemented by the SDI as part of the project "Building Legal Foundations for Sustainable Forests and Livelihoods."

The event is expected to increase the knowledge and capacity of participants by sharing expert knowledge and best practices on forest governance including transparency and accountability, roles and responsibilities leading to improvements in community forest governance, and explore implications for policy and law reform.

It will specifically contribute to increasing knowledge about community forest governance and filling the information gap to strengthen the core governance structure of Community Assembly (CA) and Community Forest Management Bodies (CFMBs) to ensure their roles and responsibilities lead to improved governance of the community forest.

Others will include increasing knowledge of legal foundations and remedies available to communities; including carbon and biodiversity conservation, and exploring options to address emerging challenges regarding community forestry governance including roles of local authorities and engagement with Community Land Development Management Committees (CLDMCs).

Thirty-five (35) participants including representatives from project communities in Lofa and Nimba Counties including Community Assembly (CA), Community Forest Management Body (CFMB), Community Land Development Management Committees (CLDMCs), Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Liberia Land Authority (LLA), and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and consortium partners.

These regional forums are contributing to increasing participants' knowledge of community forest and land governance and best practices to address identified gaps and improve governance and management of the project's intervening community forests. At the upcoming seventh regional forum, discussions will cover legal frameworks, dispute resolution, financial management, and gender inclusion.

The forum will also include presentations, focus groups, plenary discussions, and group sessions that will promote and encourage interactive participation. The mock arbitration case scenario, a key feature of the forum that has continued to generate participants' interest, is expected to generate another fascination at the upcoming event given the real-life complex relationships communities continue to experience with logging companies they have contracts with for their community forest.

Additionally, emerging issues will be highlighted for information and knowledge-sharing purposes. This includes emerging forest governance issues relative to carbon and biodiversity conservation.

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