A report reaching the Daily Observer, Nimba Bureau from the Southeast part of Liberia, especially Grand Gedeh indicates that there is widespread depletion of the forest, affecting most of the tree species used for furniture or construction.
Modesco Gaye, the head of Timber and Chains Saw Union in Gbard Geded told the Daily Observer, more hundreds of hectares of forest have been depleted by the Butkinabe' with cocoa farming.
He explained that the Butkinabes farmers are in the habit of setting the tree species on fire to have it destroyed so as to give light to the cocoa plantation.
Mr. Gaye explained that one Burkinabe cultivating about 50 - 60 hectares of land, leaving most of the community to be depleted and causing shortage of planks in the local market.
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An update from the Liberia Immigration Service indicated that there are about 43, 000 Butkinabes have entered Liberia, with nearly all of them in Grand Gedeh, but couldn't disclose whether they entered legally or illegally.
"The influx of these Burkinabes is becoming alarming in Grand Geded - imagine, in every village around the forest communities, you find about 100 Burkinabes," he said.
A local radio reporter working with Smile FM in Zwedru, D. Parker Tuodee Wonneplayon told Daily Observer that the alarming situation is depriving logging companies and timber management companies from the county, because most of the community forest, where logging takes place, has been depleted or covered with cocoa plantation.
He names Gbarzon,Tchian, Konubo as the most affected districts, where, according to him, have been deforestated and may likely be the home of the Burkinabes in Liberia.
"When the Burkinabes entered the forest, the first thing they did was set all the timber spices on fire or big wooden trees on fire to enable sunlight, while at the same time carrying on extensive cultivating day and night," he said.
The local reporter quoted the Liberia Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as saying that the rate of deforestation in Grand Gedeh County has reached alarming levels, with about 10,000 hectares of forest estimated being cleared annually.
The deforestation activities have been ongoing for several years, with the situation worsening in recent times," he added.
The issue of the influx of Burkinabes into Liberia is becoming alarming day by day, with no action yet to be taken by the national government.
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In Nimba County, a similar influx of Burkinabes is said to be alarming, where there have always been reports of bitter conflict among those who harbored them and those who opposed.
Tension rocked the Glaaru Region of Rivergee among two sectional clans over land - one accused the other of encroaching on their lands.
The Daily Observer established that those harbored the Burkinabes delivered huge swaths of their family farmland for cocoa plantation and again want to migrate to other lands farming, which of course can be heavily resisted.
Similar conflicts of such are said to be taking everywhere the Burkinabes present are.
Vice President Koung had given several warnings to citizens chiefs to stop harboring foreigners, arguing that the constitution prohibits foreigners from owning land, but despite these calls, the influx continues to rise daily to the detriment of some communities.
Grand Gedeh County District # 3 Representative Jacob C. Debee once raised an alarm that infiltration of Burkinabe' into Liberia, especially his native Grand Gedeh, is alarming and troublesome and causing serious land disputes in the host communities.
The timber dealer through the head in Zwedru quoted the Forestry Development Authority agent in Grand Gedeh of saying that the government does not have much control over the community forests and the most affected areas are the community forests, even though the Daily Observer is yet to independently verify this allegation, but the continued exploitation of the forest with no sign of stopping it remain a concern among the citizens.
