Liberia's most ambitious forest-protection effort in more than a decade formally launched Thursday as the government, France, development partners and community leaders unveiled the Wonegizi-Wologizi Initiative for Sustainable Ecosystems, known as WISE. The €9 million project seeks to protect one of West Africa's most ecologically significant forest systems while advancing land rights, rural livelihoods, and Liberia's long-delayed entry into high-integrity carbon markets.
The ceremony, held at the Forestry Development Authority headquarters in Whein Town, brought together representatives from government ministries, conservation organizations, civil society, traditional leadership, international partners and the private sector. It also featured the official signing of cooperation agreements between the Government of Liberia, the French Development Agency (AFD), GRET and Fauna & Flora.
The WISE Project targets a 130,000-hectare landscape in Lofa County, an area considered one of the last intact blocks of the Upper Guinean rainforest. It is home to endangered species, culturally significant communities and ecological corridors that link Liberia to regional biodiversity. With the country continuing to lose forest cover to logging, mining, shifting agriculture and weak governance systems, the project is being launched against a backdrop of urgency.
Diplomatic Pressure and Partnership
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France's Ambassador to Liberia, Jrabelle Le Guellec, delivered an opening statement that framed the project not only as a conservation intervention but also as a critical part of global climate action. She began by recognizing the people who have protected the forest for generations, saying she wished "to express a special appreciation to the representative of the communities living in and around Wonegizi-Wologizi for their longstanding care and protection of the forests."
She described WISE as both technically important and personally meaningful, stating, "I am particularly honored and pleased to launch with Liberia this important project on conservation which is at the same time at the heart of the WISE project and dear to mine."
The ambassador reminded participants that Liberia, although small in population, plays a significant role in the global environmental system. She pointed out that Liberia is home to an estimated 43 percent of the remaining Upper Guinean forest, making it vital for biodiversity, climate regulation, water systems, and community livelihoods. She emphasized that discussions at COP30 underscored the importance of protecting primary forests and reaffirmed France's leadership in advancing the "30 by 30" initiative to designate at least 30 percent of the world's land and seas for protection by 2030. She also mentioned the One Forest Summit held in Libreville in 2023, where leaders promoted sustainable forest value chains and innovative financing for conservation.
The ambassador linked these global priorities directly to Liberia's own commitments. She pointed out that WISE supports Liberia's pledge to cut national deforestation in half by 2030 and to expand protected areas to 1.5 million hectares. For her, the project goes beyond just increasing tree cover. She highlighted that it will enhance institutional capacity, governance, and decision-making systems, and back the implementation of Liberia's Land Rights Act while helping develop a transparent carbon-finance framework.
She concluded by reminding participants that successful conservation requires joint effort, saying that only through "strong, collective action" can Liberia move beyond a single project and "build a resilient landscape, for both the people and the forest." Her closing message underscored France's long-term commitment: protecting forests, she said, means securing "a sustainable and climate-resilient future."
A Landscape Under Pressure
The Wonegizi-Wologizi landscape is central to Liberia's environmental future. It hosts rare and threatened wildlife, including pygmy hippopotamuses, western chimpanzees and African forest elephants, species whose survival in Liberia is increasingly intertwined with complex human land-use patterns. Surrounding communities depend on the forest for food, water, culture, identity and economic survival.
Liberia has lost about 20% of its forest cover since the early 2000s, mainly due to unregulated logging, mining, poaching, and shifting cultivation. Without strong action, conservationists warn that the fragmentation of forest areas could speed up rapidly.
The government has long aimed to expand its protected areas to 1.5 million hectares, but progress has halted. Wonegizi and Wologizi remain "Proposed Protected Areas," officially recognized but not yet fully gazetted or operational as protected sites. WISE aims to help transition these areas from proposals to fully protected and sustainably managed conservation zones. The project also seeks to establish a balanced forest management system that benefits communities, government agencies, and the ecosystems that support them.
Fauna & Flora's Roadmap for the Landscape
Mary Molokwu-Odozi, Fauna & Flora's Country Director, detailed what is at stake and the work already underway. "Today marks a significant milestone for the Wonegizi-Wologizi landscape and for Liberia as we gather to launch the WISE Landscape Programme funded by the French Development Agency," she said. She called the landscape a "beacon of hope for communities, for biodiversity and for the Wonegizi-Wologizi landscape," noting its population of globally threatened species.
Molokwu-Odozi highlighted years of groundwork by Fauna & Flora and partners. She noted that efforts supported by the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, Rainforest Trust, and others had already led to the construction of the FDA's Wonegizi field office, the initiation of a REDD+ project, and significant progress in customary land formalization. She reported that eight land titles had been secured for more than 20 communities across three clans and townships, establishing the foundation for protecting the 28,000-hectare Wonegizi Proposed Protected Area.
She described WISE as a scaling-up phase. The project will support the official establishment and management of the Wonegizi and Wologizi protected areas, restore forest corridors connecting the two sites, and promote long-term integration of sustainable agriculture into community livelihoods. It will also offer training and technical assistance to the FDA and local governance structures to strengthen co-management systems.
A central part of her speech focused on the REDD+ initiative. She described REDD+ as a tool not just for cutting emissions but also for empowering communities. She said the project "will serve as a sustainable financing mechanism for the long-term conservation of the landscape, through the sales of carbon credits, offering results-based payments, and attracting climate finance." She added that this mechanism could motivate communities to protect the forest well into the future.
FDA: Integration, Coordination and Measurable Outcomes
Representing the Government of Liberia, Nora Garmai Bowier, Deputy Managing Director for Conservation, Community, and Carbon at the FDA, characterized WISE as both a conservation and a national governance effort. She described the landscape as one of "exceptional national and global importance," serving as a stronghold for biodiversity and a source of ecosystem services that support thousands of people.
In a direct message to her colleagues and partners, she said, "Sustainable landscape management cannot be achieved by any single institution acting alone. It requires coordinated planning, shared technical standards, transparent roles and responsibilities, and mutual accountability among all implementers." Her comments reflected longstanding concerns in Liberia's conservation sector about fragmented mandates, inconsistent enforcement, and limited coordination among ministries and agencies.
She positioned WISE as a step toward integrated landscape management, a framework that connects conservation to carbon governance and community development. She also emphasized that the FDA saw the signing ceremony as more than just a formal step. "Let us see this not merely as a procedural requirement," she said, but as "a statement of shared purpose" and a pledge to achieve "measurable outcomes that will stand the test of time."
AFD: "This Is a Liberian Project"
Clémentine Dardy, Country Director for AFD, stressed the importance of national ownership. "I want to start by recognising something essential: this is a Liberian project," she said, underscoring that AFD's role was to support--not direct--Liberia's vision.
She mapped the landscape's importance in global climate issues, noting Liberia's role as a guardian of a major carbon sink and biodiversity sanctuary. However, she also highlighted human development outcomes, pointing out that land titles had already been secured for more than 42 communities, over 1,500 farmers would get direct support, and more than 34,000 people were expected to benefit as the project progressed.
Dardy explicitly connected WISE to Liberia's national development plan, the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, which emphasizes sustainable economic growth and community-led development. She expressed confidence that WISE would establish the foundation for Liberia's first high-integrity carbon-credit system, which, if properly managed, could offer long-term, predictable funding for conservation and community welfare.
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She noted that WISE was AFD's first biodiversity investment in Liberia and mentioned that the agency hopes the project can eventually be expanded or duplicated in other parts of the country.
Finance Ministry: Climate Pressure and Economic Realities
Mr. Amadu V. S. Kpahn of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning pledged strong governmental support. He said the Ministry of Finance was "looking out for opportunities that would help to move the economy one step" and that the Minister of Finance had given "full support in showing that this project succeeds."
Kpahn acknowledged the severity of Liberia's climate vulnerability, saying, "Global change is ongoing right now, and Liberia is no exception." He also emphasized that the livelihoods of the people remain central, reiterating that the "likelihood [livelihood] of the people is paramount."
He assured partners that the Ministry of Finance would do its part to ensure compliance, transparency and benefits to communities, stating that the people of Lofa "are going to be a 50/50 share that will benefit." He closed on a note of determination: "We are here to work."
A Model for Integrated Conservation
The WISE project is structured around four major components: protection and management of conservation areas; sustainable agriculture and income-generating activities; institutional support and capacity-building; and project management and coordination. Although these components were not presented as bullet points during the launch, they form the backbone of the project's approach.
At its core, WISE aims to conserve biodiversity while improving community living conditions. This involves establishing the two protected areas, maintaining forest connectivity, and supporting the resilience of 42 forest-fringe communities that rely on the landscape for basic survival. The project also seeks to boost the livelihoods of nearly 1,500 farming households, provide training to government officers and strengthen the institutional systems that govern forest resources.
The strategy relies heavily on community participation, customary land tenure recognition, co-management structures and benefit-sharing mechanisms that align with national policies. By integrating conservation with agricultural transformation and rural development, the project seeks to resolve longstanding tensions between environmental protection and community needs.
