Top: An aerial view showing several abandoned logs near Timber Village in the middle of the Bondi Mandingo Forest. The DayLight/Samuel Jabba
By Samuel T. Jabba
This is the first of a two-part series on a logging contract and a mining license in a community forest in Gbarpolu County.
GBARQUOITA – A community in Gbarpolu County has agreed to a new logging contract, reopening the forest to timber extraction after a previous contract ended unsuccessfully.
Bondi Mandingo Community Forest, which covers 37,222 hectares in the Bopolu District, signed the seven-year deal with the Kisvan Timber Corporation on July 24. To meet expectations, community leaders have ensured this contract delivers real benefits this time.
“I think it is a good agreement. We had a similar issue before in the community, but what got me involved with this is that this one is time-bound,” says Mark Dennis, Bondi Mandingo’s chief officer. The first agreement did not have that. This time, it will not be a ‘sell and pay,’ where you will carry the wood before returning to the communities to pay benefits.”
The new agreement includes US$25,590 in annual land rent, US$3 per cubic meter in harvesting fees—one of the highest in the industry—and a US$7,000 healthcare fee. The company must provide education support, forest-protection funding, offices for community leadership, road rehabilitation, and a sawmill.
Dennis says representatives from six affected communities support the contract. It initially sought a conservation deal, but negotiations broke down midway, fixing the community’s attention back on logging.
Bondi Mandingo’s first contract was with Indo Africa, one of several companies owned by a Singaporean family. Indo Africa Plantations Liberia Incorporated owed the community US$400,212 and failed to fulfill its promises of roads, schools, and jobs, according to court filings. A Bopolu court sided with community leaders and terminated the contract last month.
“In the first contract, we did not realize our benefits, and the logs were exported out of here secretly. Nothing we received in return. We still stand to benefit from that money,” says Dennis.
Indo Africa left behind some 10,000 cubic meters of logs. The woods lay scattered in the forest and on the roadsides in Gbarquoita, a major town in that area. Reporters counted about 500 abandoned logs, mostly expensive species. Having signed the contract, Kisvan will take ownership of the abandoned logs, subject to regulatory requirements.
“We were angry because we went into the bush and saw the number of logs the company left in the forest. So, we had no other option,” says Fatu David, the chairlady of Gbarquoita Town.
Also, under the contract, KISVAN must pay harvesting fees into the community account before export, replacing the previous practice in which timber allegedly left before benefits were paid. It sets deadlines, including completing the Bopolu–Gbarquoita road by next March. Community members are entitled to mid-level positions in the company and take legal action if deadlines are violated.
“This was discussed in the agreement, so that we can have eyes inside. If anything happens, we will be informed. We have also started reviewing the documents that the government gave them,” explains Dennis.
“So, we are monitoring them.”
Kisvan has another logging contract with the Marbon Community Forest in Grand Cape Mount County, a problem with which Bondi Mandingo is all too familiar. A Singaporean family that owns Indo Africa had contracts with three other community forests, apart from Bondi Mandingo. All but one of the contracts ended in court, with devastating consequences to local people. Kisvan has had issues with its previous contracts, too. In 2021, it signed a logging contract with the Central Morweh Community Forest in River Cess County to operate 19,091 hectares of forest. The contract, however, ended prematurely, following a series of payment and project challenges.
Kisvan denies any wrongdoing regarding Central Morweh but did not respond to queries for comment in this story. Dennis, meanwhile, is confident that the Bondi Mandingo-Kisvan contract will deliver. “Not hundred percent. I trust at least 80 percent of what they have promised because they are humans,” says Dennis. “People can make promises, and at times, they may not fulfill their promises.”
Miners and loggers in one forest
Pressure from miners also influenced Bondi Mandingo’s decision. A Chinese Liberian firm, J.M. Mining Company, holds a gold-exploration license that overlaps the community forest. Reporters saw earthmovers, several open pits, and a camp house of several Asian men.
Under the Mineral and Mining Law, an exploration license lasts three years and can be extended by another two. After the extension, the license could evolve into a 25-year agreement with the Liberian government. This means J.M. Mining could exploit the forest throughout Kisvan’s contract lifespan, which is a forestry offense.
“Their exploration has been going on for two years now. They are doing it in the Kpo Mountain area, and we are afraid that they will give the loggers problems,” said Stanford David, General Town Chief of the Bondi Clan.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy calms the community’s fear in a statement.
“The Ministry of Mines and Energy awards exploration licenses in community forests, because the Ministry believes that exploration is a research license and hence exploration and logging can co-exist or take place in the same forest,” reads a statement.
J.M. Mining denies any wrongdoing and supports the ministry’s view.
“The issue of having logging and mining operations in the same space at the same time will be handled,” says Hilary Simmons, a J.M. Mining manager. “All these come down to simple understanding; I think there won’t be any conflict here.”
This story was produced with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.