Top: A signboard of the Krahn-Grebo National Park in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Esau Farr
By Esau J. Farr
BILLIBO TOWN – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has regained control of the Grebo-Krahn National Park from traditional leaders in Grand Gedeh County for the first time in months.
The FDA recently did so following a meeting in Billibo Town, Konobo District. Since May, traditional leaders prevented the FDA from entering the forest due to a misunderstanding over forest rangers’ alleged destruction of cocoa plants.
“We have resolved the issue,” said Alex Grant, the Superintendent of Grand Gedeh County. “This means that FDA’s rangers can now go into the forest and do their regular work free of intimidation.”
The traditional leaders in the Konobo District had held rangers for allegedly breaching traditional norms. The followers of the masked dancer, commonly known as “country devil,” claimed rangers cut down young cocoa trees outside the park. As a result, they held them for a whole day, demanding a cow and two sheep for their release.
The rangers denied any wrongdoing, saying rangers only destroyed tents that illegal occupants had built in the park during a routine inspection.
They were only released after the intervention of James Saylee, Paramount Chief of Gbardru Chiefdom, Konobo District, who provided a sheep and a bag of rice.
But the rangers’ ordeal was not over. The traditional leaders demanded that the FDA present a cow and the two sheep to have access to the park.
At the Tuesday meeting, the Ministry of Local Government disagreed with the actions of the traditional leaders.
“Don’t use the culture to solve matters,” said William Jallah, Assistant Minister of Culture. “If you hide behind the culture, it will give the Superintendent and the Legislature a hard time to fight your case,” Jallah called for coordination among traditional leaders and local county officials, and warned them of stern punishment against troublemakers.
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened in Sinoe during the regime of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf when traditional activities were banned for five years,” Jallah said.
At the end of the meeting, everyone agreed that rangers resume their work in the park.
Jerry Yonmah, FDA’s Technical Manager for Conservation, appreciated stakeholders for jointly helping to put an end to the misunderstanding. He encouraged rangers to better collaborate with community people to manage the park.
“I feel happy that this matter has been resolved,” said Yonmah. “I told our people that hearing actions that undermine the government’s work sometimes border on disrespect for the government.”
Illegal miners enter the park
In the absence of rangers in the park, illegal miners began mining there. Locals told The DayLight they chased the miners from the area. DayLight could not independently verify the information.
Established in October 2017, the Grebo-Krahn National Park covers 97,136 hectares of forestland that lies between Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties southeast of Liberia. It is home to forest elephants, chimpanzees and pygmy hippopotamus.
It holds over 300 animal species and 270 plant species, highlighting its environmental significance. The park is also designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International, the world’s leading global partnership dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats.
