9 Proposed Changes to the Forestry Law Explained

September 15, 2026

Top: Operators mill planks with a chainsaw in Borkeza, Lofa County, in 2022. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Roberto T. Kollie

MONROVIA – The Liberian government is considering one of the most significant overhauls of the National Forestry Reform Law since its enactment 20 years ago. In 2006, Liberia’s legal landscape was very different. Since then, the country has enacted major legislation, including the Community Rights Law… with Respect to Forest Lands and the Land Rights Act. Liberia has also committed to international agreements on climate change, biodiversity conservation, and legal timber trade.

Several provisions of the existing forestry law now conflict with these newer legal frameworks or fail to address emerging issues such as carbon trading, community land rights, traceability of timber exports, and mining activities in forest areas.

Government agencies, communities, civil society organizations, development partners, and the private sector will discuss the changes further before preparing any final legislative proposal. If consensus is reached, a formal amendment bill would eventually be prepared for consideration through Liberia’s legislative process.

Should the proposed reforms be adopted, they could significantly reshape how Liberia manages its forests, balances conservation with economic development, protects communities’ rights, regulates timber production, and improves transparency in one of the country’s most valuable natural resource sectors.

Here is what the proposed reforms could mean:

1. Sustainable management would become the foundation

One of the biggest proposals is the introduction of sustainable forest management as the guiding principle for every forestry decision. Instead of focusing primarily on commercial timber production, the revised law would require government institutions to balance economic development with biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, community livelihoods, transparency, and protection against illegal logging.

This change would align Liberia’s forestry sector with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement, REDD+, and other global forest governance standards.

2. A legal definition of ‘forest‘

Surprisingly, Liberia’s forestry law currently lacks a statutory definition of what constitutes a forest. The proposed amendment would establish an interim definition based on the 2018 National Forest Inventory. It would allow the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to periodically revise technical criteria through regulations after future national forest inventories.

Supporters argue that this would reduce uncertainty in land classification and forest management.

Forestry reformers are attempting to define what constitutes a forest in changes to the National Forestry Reform Law. Picture credit: James Harding Giahyue

3. Clarified community ownership

One of the most important reforms concerns ownership of forest resources. The existing law generally states that forest resources are held “in trust” by the Republic. However, the proposed amendments would recognize that forest resources located on customary land belong to communities, while those on private land belong to private landowners, consistent with the Land Rights Act.

Government trusteeship would continue primarily over forests on government and public land.

4. Greater decision-making power to communities

The draft proposes making free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) a legal requirement before any forestry license affecting customary or community forests can be approved. No forest license would be issued on community land without documented approval from local people.

The objective is to ensure that communities understand proposed projects and voluntarily agree before forests are allocated for use.

5. Stronger community forestry

The review also proposes placing community forest management agreements (CFMAs) within the National Forestry Reform Law. Currently, it is not there, as the CFMAs were created by the Community Rights Law, three years after the National Forestry Reform Law. (CFMAs are agreements between communities and the FDA for co-management of community forest resources.

Although communities already manage forests under separate legislation, supporters say integrating these arrangements into the National Forestry Reform Law would eliminate confusion and strengthen community rights.

The amendments would also clarify the respective responsibilities of community forest management bodies (CFMBs), community forest development committees (CFDCs), and community land development and management committees (CLDMCs) to reduce overlapping mandates. (CFMB was created by the Community Rights Law, CFDC was created by the National Forestry Reform Law, and the CLDMC was established by the Land Rights Act).

6. Legal but regulated chainsaw milling

One of the most controversial proposals involves chainsaw milling. Although chainsaw milling has long operated informally in many parts of Liberia, it is not currently recognized as a licensed activity.

The draft would create a formal Chainsaw Milling Permit available only to Liberian citizens, cooperatives, and authorized communities under strict conditions. It would limit operations to community forests or private land, prohibit exports of chainsaw-milled timber, require environmental approvals, and establish penalties for violations.

Supporters argue that regulation is more practical than allowing widespread informal operations.

7. Transparent revenue management

The review follows concerns raised by previous audits regarding forestry benefit-sharing.

The draft requires forestry payments to pass through designated government accounts, and not directly to individuals. It would also establish by law the National Benefit Sharing Trust Board, which manages benefits for communities affected by certain commercial logging activities. It would also require annual audits and strengthen oversight of community forestry funds.

These measures are intended to improve accountability and reduce opportunities for misuse of forestry revenues.

8. Tighter controls over mining in forests

Perhaps the most controversial proposal addresses the growing overlap between mining and forestry.

The amendments would prohibit mining in protected areas, require community land access agreements before mining on customary land, and establish stronger coordination between the Forestry Development Authority and the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Mining companies would also need FDA site assessments before forest-clearing could occur.

9. Stronger monitoring of forestry operations

The draft would require annual independent audits of all major forestry licenses, including community forestry agreements and chainsaw milling permits.

Audit reports would be published, increasing public access to information about timber harvesting, payments, community benefits, and legal compliance.

The amendments would also require the National Forest Policy to be reviewed every five years through a participatory process, involving government, communities, civil society, and the private sector.

Trucks offload logs outside Greenville, Sinoe County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Other Issues

But not every issue has been resolved. The review identifies several questions requiring additional consultation, including:

Whether new Forest Management Contracts and Timber Sale Contracts should be allowed on community land or restricted to government land.
Whether all forestry contracts should follow a uniform 25-year harvesting cycle or whether smaller community forests should have different harvesting rules.
How large community commercial contracts should comply with public procurement principles.

US$5.4 Million Grebo-Krahn Park Project Restarts

September 10, 2026

Top: Participants at the Grebo-Krahn project relaunch in Ziah City. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr, Sr.

By Esau J. Farr, Sr.

ZIAH CITY, Grand Gedeh County – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has relaunched a multipurpose project for the Grebo-Krahn National Park. The 4.7 million Euros (US$5.4m) project is called the Tai-Grebo-Krahn Complex Biodiversity Protection Project, meant to manage the park.

The German government is funding the project through the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) in Liberia, a conservation NGO. The scheme was approved in 2017 by the German Development Bank (KfW) valued at 6 million Euros.

“We hope that this project can finally address some of the issues that have been coming from the park since its establishment nine years ago,” said Wild Chimpanzee Foundation’s Country Director, Dr. Annika Hillers, at the project’s relaunch in Ziah City, Grand Gedeh County. “It will bring a lot of relief to FDA, the partners, and most of all, the development of local community members.”

The three-year plan focuses on communities’ benefits. It targets roads to connect communities around the park, and offices for the FDA to support regular monitoring. It intends to train over 300 people, employ locals, and introduce animal farming and local savings clubs.

The project also targets the construction of schools, medical facilities and hand pumps, and 150 solar street lights for communities adjacent to the park.

The FDA’s Deputy Managing Director for Community, Conservation and Carbon, Nora Bowier, encouraged locals to own it.

“You need to own it because if it succeeds, we all succeed, and if it fails, we all fail,” Bowier said. “We listened to all your concerns and interests and we are going to look into them to try and address them to the degree we can.”

Thomas Yaya Nimely, the Senator of Grand Gedeh County, said locals were willing to help the government protect the forest.

“Our concern is that our citizens have been keeping this forest for generations and as you have come for it, we want to know what benefits this project will bring to them?”

History and biodiversity

The Grebo-Krahn National Park was established in 2017 through a partnership of the FDA and Wild Chimpanzee Foundation. Its establishment was part of the government’s efforts to preserve a portion of its forest in line with the Paris Agreement.

The 97,136-hectare forest runs from Grand Gedeh through River Gee into the Tai-Grebo area near the Ivorian border. The area hosts several wildlife species, including forest elephants, chimpanzees and the pygmy hippopotamus.

Additionally, it has 300 known animal species and 270 plant species, highlighting its environmental significance. The region has also been 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.

An environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) is expected soon, after which road construction will begin.

Two Protected Forests Near Establishment

August 10, 2026

Group pic Gt

Top: Stakeholders at the Proposed Kwa Gazettement forum in Monrovia. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

By Esau J. Farr

MONROVIA – Forestry actors agreed to establish the Kwa and Wonegizi Protected Areas in Liberia, and expect them to become reality soon.

Officials held two public engagement forums in Monrovia to gather stakeholders’ input for Kwa and Wonegizi’s gazettement. Scores of conservationists, forest campaigners, and governmental agencies participated in the events.

“Today, we have come with a package to put this portion of the Kwa into protection for the future of our people,” said Rudolph Merab, the FDA Managing Director, at the Kwa event. “We appreciate the efforts of all who helped reach this far.”

Pygmy hippo

Kwa and Wonegizi safeguard critical swathes of Liberia’s remaining portion of the Upper Guinean forests. They are home to endangered species and are part of the country’s commitments to preserve 30 percent of its forests.

The Kwa Proposed Protected Area covers River Cess, Sinoe and Grand Gedeh Counties, extending some 236,246 hectares. Its establishment began in 2016. The FDA partners with the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, based in the Mano River basin, and the US-based Rainforest Trust to establish the area.

Kwa supports Liberia’s second-largest known population of critically endangered western chimpanzees, endangered pygmy hippopotamuses, and critically endangered slender-snouted crocodiles.

Dr. Annika Hillers, the Country Director of Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, told the Kwa ceremony reveled in the progress.

“We need to talk about what is best for the country and not what is best for an individual. We hope that for the best of Liberia, the proposed Kwa National Park will become a reality as soon as possible,” added Dr. Hillers.

Meerab — FDA Managing Director, Rudolph J. Merab, Sr. The DayLight/Samuel Jabba

Zebra duiker

The Wonegizi Proposed Protected Area covers 27,645 hectares in Lofa County’s Ziama Clan. Started in 2013, the FDA works with Fauna & Flora (FFI), a UK-based NGO, to establish Wonegizi. Located along the Liberian-Guinean border, it is an important transboundary forest landscape with Guinea’s Biosphere Reserve.

Full of rocky terrain and lowland rainforests, Wonegizi is home to forest elephants, pygmy hippopotamuses, and the rare zebra duiker. It allows large mammals to migrate safely between the two countries, maintaining a range of diverse species across regional highlands.

The formation of Wonegizi is also meant to prepare communities for carbon trade with an estimated US$2.5 million community benefit annually, according to FFI.

“I am very pleased that we have come to this stage finally. It took a long process,” said Dr. Mary Molokwu-Odozi, FFI’s country director. “It will now be a smooth process going forward.”

Efforts to establish Kwa and Wonegizi have experienced challenges.

Kwa’s establishment has been stalled due to competing mining interests and agricultural activities. Between 2002 and 2025, Kwa lost 64,358 hectares or roughly 27 percent of its original size, leaving its current area at 171,020 hectares.

In June this year, citizens from Grand Gedeh’s Gbarzon District accused the FDA of illegally extending Kwa’s boundaries into farmlands and destroying their crops. President Joseph Boakai ordered an investigation into the matter.

Senator Augustine Chea of Sinoe County, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, called for caution.

“Consulting us is the right thing to do, but we must do this against the background that there are people who reside on the land, who have customary rights to the land,” said Chea. “Conservation is good, but survival is more important than conservation.”

Ancestral land deed

Meanwhile, Wonegizi’s establishment was delayed due to adjacent communities’ efforts to obtain ancestral land deeds. The communities finally obtained their deeds last year and earlier this year, thrusting the process forward.

Stakeholders also raised qualms about the human-elephant crisis in the region. In the last decade, elephants have raided towns and farms in the northwest in search of food. This has caused people to migrate to new areas.

“The elephant issue must be looked at as we don’t intend to harm them. Each and everyone’s interest must be protected in the process,” said Lavelah Massaquoi, the Superintendent of Lofa County.

The gazettement packages of the forest areas are expected to be presented to the Legislature for enactment. Once passed into law, they will be sent to the President for approval.

“We have done a lot, and we are now at the last stage of their establishment,” said Merab. “When we have finally passed the act that creates these areas, we will hope that you will support and ensure that it is not encroached upon.”

Loan Scheme Eases Pressure on Salayea Forest

August 3, 2026

Top: Nenee David’s house under construction in Telemu Town, which she funded with the loan she received from the Salayea Community Forest. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Esau J. Farr

SALAYEA TOWN, Lofa County – Before joining the Salayea Community Forest’s savings club, Krubo Tokpah sold pastry in a transparent bucket for a year. Now she uses the loan to sell used clothing, which she uses to feed her children and send them to school.

“This program has made me have money all the time,” says Tokpah. “I can’t be a beggar again.”

Tokpah is the chairlady of the village saving and loan association in Salayea town, one of six communities adjacent to the Salayea forest. The loan scheme is helping to stop locals from using the 8,270-hectare forest in the Salayea District of Lofa County.

In 2022, Salayea Community Forest introduced the loan program to empower women and make them financially independent. Five women’s groups of 25 people each began the loan program, which now has over 250 beneficiaries across the district.

Palladium Group Liberia, a British NGO, trained townspeople and provided special boxes to save the money. Townspeople are prohibited from farming, mining, or building homes in the forest. However, people are allowed to garden in areas outside the primary forest, including swamps and marshes.

Salayea Forest (1) — A drone photo of the Salayea Community Forest. The DayLight/Samuel Jabba

“The loan program and the other alternative livelihood programs are all helping to protect our forest,” says Yassah Mulbah, the head of the Salayea Community Forest. “It helps keep our forest from being destroyed,” adds Mulbah.

Before the loan program, unauthorized occupants mined and farmed in the Salayea forest. The loan program is now reversing that course.

“Two months ago, we did our infantry in the bush; we did not see any new farming nor a hunter in the forest,” says Garmen Flomo, a Salayea forest leader in Beyan Town. “There were animals that we did not see at first when we entered the forest.”

The scheme is one of several strategies the Salayea Community Forest is applying to stop illegal activities and reduce locals’ dependence on the forest. The other programs include animal farming, cocoa cultivation, guesthouse management and woodwork. Two Sinoe communities—Wehjad and Jaedae—are implementing a similar project to protect their forests.

Transformation

Beneficiaries of the loan scheme say the project is paying off for them.

“I am happy for this program to come to us… because it is transforming our lives,” says Mamie Kollie, a Telemu Town resident. “From my savings, I am helping my husband to build this new house I am sitting under.” Situated on a hill in the center of Telemu Town, Kollie and her husband had zinced their new home. The house is built of bricks made of brown mud and cement.

Like Kollie, Nenee David, another Telemu Town resident, is constructing a three-bedroom house.

“We used some of the money that we got from the village saving loan to build our house,” said Madam David. “I used part of that money to buy different kinds of goods….”

Besides construction, businesses are improving every year. Members of the loan program expect to save at least L$3,000,000 (US$16,666) this year.

Mamie Kollie VSLA Telemu — Mamie Kollie being interviewed at her new house in Telemu Town. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Businesses have moved from lower to higher levels since the introduction of the program. Like Krubo Tokpah and Garmen Flomo, both from Salayea Town, have moved from selling locally prepared bread to selling used clothes. Korto Flomo in Gorlu Town and other members of the Beyan Town program have swapped the table market for a shop.

Yassah Mulbah, Chief Officer of the Salayea Community Forest, is grateful.

“It has reduced most of the burdens on the women, and we want more support to increase beneficiaries.”

This was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia.

Investigation Finds Flaws and Falsehoods in Presidential Letter

July 13, 2026

Farmers lied in letter to President Boakai — A forest in Boundary, Grand Gedeh County

Top: A drone picture of a forest in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel Jabba

By Varney Kamara

POUH TOWN – Local cocoa farmers in Grand Gedeh County manipulated signatures in an appeal letter to President Joseph Boakai, rejecting boundaries between their communities and the Kwa Proposed Protected Area, a DayLight investigation found. The investigation established that the letter was based on falsehoods, as some had already agreed to the proposed park’s boundaries.

Late last month, farmers from the Gbarzon District wrote to President Joseph Boakai, claiming forestry authorities did not seek their consent before cutting the boundaries. They allege that they signed no MoU and there was no guarantee they would have access to their farmlands. They had been intimidated, their properties destroyed, and forest rangers made unauthorized entry into their communities.

For this reason, the farmers want the proposed park’s boundaries pushed to 10 kilometers. President Boakai then ordered an immediate investigation into the matter. Official talks took place last weekend as part of the presidential inquest.

Covering 172,200 hectares, the Kwa Proposed Protected Area lies between River Cess, Sinoe, and Grand Gedeh Counties. It is part of Liberia’s efforts to protect 30 percent of its forests and contributes to the country’s climate commitments.

An ‘error’

The DayLight reviewed the appeal letter, interviewed some of its signatories, and found inconsistencies. Reporters found that although the letter to the President lists 16 signatures, only 15 people actually signed it. Abednego Zweh, a farmer from Pouh Town, where most of the appealing farmers live, signed twice.

George Totaye, another Pouh Town farmer, said he did not sign the letter.

“I personally cannot remember signing any petition. I cannot remember signing that communication,” said Totaye. “My farm does not extend on that side. I am not close to the park. I am not part of them.”

Zweh insists Totaye signed the letter, but listing 16 signatories instead of 15 was an “error.”

Routy Beh, a cocoa farmer in Pouh Town, sits behind his half-dried cocoa beans. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Garretson Seo, one of the cocoa farmers, grants an interview with The DayLight in Pouh Town. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Dixon Roberts, General Town Chief of Tojallah, is one of 15 cocoa farmers who wrote to President Joseph Boakai. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Several of the 15 cocoa farmers who wrote the appeal to President Boakai had consented to Kwa in 2023. They told The DayLight they hosted between two and 10 Burkinabés. Dixon Roberts (six Burkinabés) of Tojallah signed. Tommy Yarkpawolo (two) and Garretson Seo (10) of Goluay signed.

There were other inconsistencies regarding the farmers’ appeal, though. Last year, the communities signed a boundary harmonization agreement with the FDA and partners, confirming the 2023 boundary. Then early this year, the clans that host the communities signed agreements with the Liberia Land Authority, confirming the boundaries.

The DayLight also noted one more issue. Pouh Town, where the majority of the farmers live, is not among the communities adjacent to the proposed park. It is 19 kilometers away.

The farmers admitted signing the consent forms. However, they claimed they were unaware of any boundary demarcation.

“We agreed for the park to be created, but we never agreed on any boundary issue, and we did not take part in any boundary demarcation exercise,” said Yarkpawolo, who has a three-hectare cocoa farm in Gaye Town.

“During our previous meetings with the FDA and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, we agreed that they would come back to us when they get ready to cut the lines. But, to our surprise, we only saw them destroying our crops,” added Yarkpawolo. His comments reflect the general view of farmers The DayLight interviewed, including those who did not sign the letter to Boakai.

But the facts contradict the farmers’ comments. The documents they signed show that they agreed to the boundaries, among other things.

“Our town confirms that since 2020 the FDA, LLA and partners have been holding community consultations and meetings to keep us informed. Our town confirms that as part of the boundary harmonization process, the boundary line was trekked by designated community members, local authorities, and relevant institutions, and all grievances were resolved,” read the consent document Yarkpawolo and other townspeople signed in Goluay.

A cocoa farm in Gbaryea Town in Gbarzon District, Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Apart from the consent form, other documents disprove the farmers’ comments.

As recently as May, community land leaders and clan chiefs signed a boundary agreement with the Liberia Land Authority for the proposed park. In the document, the farmers “fully acknowledged” the proposed Kwa Park and agreed on its “official boundaries.” Also, there is no record of any farmer raising any qualms when authorities published notices about the proposed park between June and August 2023.

Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, an NGO that works with the FDA to establish Kwa, refuted the farmers’ claim.

“From our side, the consent forms were signed by the rightful community representatives in 2023,” said Dr Annika Hillers, Country Director of Wild Chimpanzee Foundation. “The consent forms were about the establishment of the park, the confirmation of the [consent] process, the harmonized boundary, and also, communities committed not to do any farming and other activities inside the proposed park.”

Some youths agree on the current boundaries. “We need reserved forests for our children,” and “Enough is enough,” adorned their posters.

One farmer somehow conceded.

“I think we made a mistake from the beginning as a community,” said Dixon Poya, who lives and farms in Pouh Town. “When the people came with this discussion on the park issue, we were too quick to agree. We should have studied all other conditions that we are raising now.

“In my mind, we should accept what is happening. We can only appeal to the government to have some consideration and redraw the boundary back a little bit,” added Poya.

Under pressure

Dr Hillers also denies allegations of human rights abuses. “We are 100 percent sure that these allegations are false and that neither FDA nor any other law enforcement entity ever violated human rights or did anything not in line with Liberian laws,” she added.

The FDA did not respond to DayLight’s queries while the government investigates the issue. However, the FDA resurveyed the area and found that over 14,000 hectares of the proposed park have been clear-cut for cocoa cultivation.

Over the years, the park has shrunk from 236,246 hectares to 172,200 hectares due to competing mining and logging interests. The farmers’ boundary appeal comes amid cocoa-fueled, nationwide deforestation. Between 2000 and 2020, Liberia lost approximately 2.52 million hectares of tree cover, with cocoa responsible for about 15 percent of that, according to a 2024 report.

Local people smuggle in Burkinabe migrants from neighboring Ivory Coast into Liberia to plant cocoa. An estimated 140,000 Burkinabes have migrated to Liberia in Grand Gedeh and River Gee, according to the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission. This cocoa rush has also resulted in encroachments on community forests and logging concessions, leaving deadly land conflicts in its wake.

Cocoa Farmers Ask Gov’t to Push Proposed Park Behind

July 10, 2026

Elders and chiefs at a meeting in Gaye Town to discuss the boundaries of the Kwa Proposed Protected Area in Grand Gedeh — Chiefs and elders meet for the Kwa Proposed Protected Area

Top: Some participants at the meeting in Gaye Town. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

By Esau J. Farr

GAYE TOWN – Cocoa farmers in Grand Gedeh County have requested that boundaries between the Kwa Proposed Protected Area and their communities be extended.

The communities lie between 3.8 and 19 kilometers from Kwa, which covers 172,200 hectares across Grand Gedeh, River Cess and Sinoe. However, they want the boundary lines to be 10 kilometers further away so they can access more farmlands.

“We can guarantee you that when this boundary line is passed, you don’t need to pay people to protect the park. We ourselves will protect the forest,” said Abednego Zweh, Chairman of Grand Gedeh’s farmers. Zweh spoke at a recent meeting to resolve a dispute with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and partners in Gaye Town, Gbarzon District.

“If our request is not honored by the President, we will still appeal,” he added.

The meeting was part of an investigation President Joseph Boakai ordered last month following the farmers’ appeal for his intervention.

In their letter to President Boakai, the farmers claimed that they did not consent to the proposed park’s boundaries. They accused authorities of abusing their rights, allegations authorities deny.

FDA boss Rudolph Merab chats with Grand Gedeh lawmaker Jacob Debee. Lawmaker Jeremiah Sokan and Thomas Yaya and other county authorities at the meeting. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

The farmers said they participated in meetings, but were unaware of any boundary arrangements.

Clement Tweh, the program manager of Wild Chimpanzee Foundation—an NGO that works with the FDA to establish Kwa—dismissed those claims. Tweh said the farmers signed consent and boundary documents.

“We don’t want a handful of individuals who have farms and are not the actual representatives of the communities to benefit, rather than the entire community,” said Tweh. The DayLight independently reviewed the documents to verify his claims.

‘Let the boundaries remain’

Interestingly, a group of concerned youths of Gbarzon District disagreed with the farmers. Led by Leo Wilson Jahyee, the youths carried placards, brandishing inscriptions: “Let the boundaries remain,” “We need reserved forests for our children,” and “Enough is enough.”

“We believe that forests should be managed, be cared for and the boundary line should remain,” Jahyee said.

The group accused the farmers of wanting to expand their cocoa farms with the help of Burkinabe migrants they host. Several of the farmers The DayLight interviewed had at least two Burkinabe migrants. About 140,000 Burkinabe migrants are in Grand Gedeh and River Gee, according to the Liberia Refugee, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC).

Members of the concerned youths of Gbao District at the Gaye Town meeting. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

Cocoa farming is fast depleting Grand Gedeh’s forest. Local farmers have encroached on logging concessions, community forests, and the proposed park. From 2002 to last year, Gbarzon lost 46,000 hectares, or 14 percent of its primary forest, according to the Global Forest Watch, an app that tracks deforestation.

Following presentations from the opposing sides, the FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab told locals they would hear from him following a meeting with President Boakai.

“I could have concluded [this matter] right now and made a decision, but unfortunately, I cannot do that because you have also written the President,” said Merab. “I cannot make a decision without consulting him.”

At the end of the meeting, the farmers agreed not to extend their farms until they hear from the FDA. Meanwhile, the regulator has mandated forest rangers to halt all operations in the disputed areas, pending the President’s decision.

How a Newsroom Led to a ‘Ban’ on a Timber Black Market

April 25, 2026

Top: Kpokolo harvested by businesswoman Binta Bility in Compound Number One, Grand Bassa County, in 2022. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

ByJames Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – On September 29, 2022, Emmanuel Sherman, The DayLight’s Editor-at-large, and I set off on a logging investigation in Compound Two, Grand Bassa County. While on our way, we saw several suspicious timber blocks by the roadside in Boyah Town and decided to investigate.

Our investigation found that Joe Jarvis Boyeah, a townsman after whose family the town is named, ran the kpokolo operation. Boyeah worked for Othello Teah, a regular caller on radio talk shows in Buchanan. Teah had been hired by Chanda Cole, the owner of one of Buchanan’s oldest businesses, the Cole Joe Wood Workshop.

The story that exposed the Boyeah Town syndicate was one of several DayLight investigations that led the government to “ban” kpokolo, though it was never a legal trade. The so-called ban might have marked the end—at least on paper—of the trade. However, each investigation untangled the criminal world of Kpokolo—how it prospered private individuals and public officials, costing the Liberian government millions.

“We have ordered all our checkpoint staff members to stop the issuance of waybills for all sawn timbers with a thickness above two inches because this is the dimensional range of thickness that is prone to illegal exportation,” said Edward Kamara, FDA’s manager for forest marketing and revenue forecast, in February 2023. Kamara was responding to a DayLight email about the spiraling of kpokolo countrywide, saying the regulator had issued “tens” of kpokolo permits.

“It had been observed that most of the timber arrested for attempting to illegally export consisted of these dimensions. Therefore, it is the chainsaw milling block wood… that is banned…,” Kamara added. The ban was officially announced at an annual meeting of forestry actors four months after Kamara’s passive disclosure.

Kpokolo started somewhere in the 2000s, based on local people and actors in the illegal trade. The term means “thick and heavy” in the Kpelle language. Logs are shaped into blocks to fit neatly into containers, and then are shipped to Asia, especially China and Vietnam.

By 2022—the year the ban was imposed—Kpokolo had peaked. Illicit operators ran advertisements on social media, and kpokolo had well been normalized. The Associated Press reported that 70 percent of Liberia’s timber exports were likely illegal, citing a diplomatic document. A 2023 report by the US-based Forest Trends found that kpokolo was a growing threat to Liberia’s forests, undermining the country’s climate change mitigation efforts.

“Flora crimes, particularly illegal logging and timber trafficking, are a significant criminal market in Liberia. Illegal practices like chainsaw milling large blocks of timber for export, known locally as kpokolo, further contribute to the scale of the trade,” reads the 2025 Global Crime Index. The annual report by organizations, including Interpol, chronicles the state of organized crime across the world.

Kpokolo has contributed to the toll that forestry activities have on Liberia’s rainforest, the largest in the West African region. In 2022, Liberia recorded the tenth-largest forest loss in the world, according to Global Forest Watch, an online tool that tracks deforestation in real time. The country lost 23 percent of its primary forest that year alone.

Leaked videos, pictures

Before the Boyeah Town investigation, The DayLight exposed Varney Marshall, a ranger with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) at the Klay checkpoint, Bomi County. The newspaper published videos and pictures from a WhatsApp conversation between Marshall and an illegal logger.

The evidence exposed a reel of the ranger’s illegal operations: kpokolo being cut, large ones packed into a container, a picture of Marshall’s equipped operatives, and a proud Marshall himself posing for a picture. He was eventually dismissed following the publication. However, the story showed that Kpokolo involved officials—not just loggers—a fact the newspaper would later further establish.

Seized Kpokolo at the Forestry Development Authority’s sub-office at the Klay checkpoint in Bomi County, in 2024. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

After the Marshall leaks, The DayLight investigated Binta Bility, a businesswoman, in Compound One, Grand Bassa. The investigation dug out that she ran a kpokolo camp in Zoegar Town with 17 accomplices, including townspeople.

The DayLight applied old-fashioned forensic techniques seen often in crime documentaries. We showed the businesswoman’s pictures to townspeople for identification, and we interviewed a man whose number was taken from the wall of the makeshift camp in the forest, near the Worr River.

About two months after the publication, Binta Bility, who denied she ran the operations, somersaulted and admitted her wrongdoing, and vowed to do things lawfully. However, that confession came after police in Bahn, Nimba County, seized a consignment of kpokolo she was transporting a month earlier.

Binta Bility might have been organized; however, a cartel of two Turks, two Chinese, and their Liberian accomplice push criminal timber trafficking, perhaps to the highest known level. With the aid of at least 33 local people, China Turkish Liberia Industries (CTL) transformed a portion of the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) into a kpokolo factory.

Videos and pictures The DayLight obtained show large pieces of boxlike timber and various machines used between 2019 and 2021. They were the most illegal timber and equipment the newspaper had ever seen at a single location.

“They got over there with a different plan,” said Dr. James Dolo, then-Officer in Charge of CARI. “They said they wanted land to set up some demo and start some production… but those guys came, and they started bringing logs in overnight.”

In the end, the Forestry Development Authority sued the syndicate’s ringleaders. Though the trial has yet to start, the syndicate claimed they bought logs from Alpha Logging and Wood Processing Company, which operated in Lofa County. In all, the CARI investigation further proved that large-scale logging companies were involved in the illicit trade, not just small ones as previously perceived.

Collusion

Another investigation into a Turkish company pinpointed the collusion between kpokolo operators and government officials. The unravelling of the crimes of Marshall, the now-dismissed FDA ranger, provided a clue; this investigation uncovered the whole story.

Kpokolo in a forest in Gbaryama, Gbarpolu County, in 2022. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The 2023 publication established that Askon Liberia General Trading Inc., run by a Turkish family—Hasan, Umit, and Yeter Uzan—illegally operated between Ganta and Sanniquellie, Nimba County. The Uzans advertised their kpokolo business on social media and online business platforms.

In 2020, Askon exported two container trucks of timber to India for US$19,800 with the help of Peter Somah, then-Assistant Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The export of timber occurred outside the legal system, known as LiberTrace.

The investigation led the FDA to blacklist Askon. Its executives, including Hasan Uzan, the majority shareholder, were arrested days later in Nimba and reportedly deported, ending the company’s years of illegal activities in the north-eastern countryside.

Askon proved the collusion between public officials and kpokolo operatives existed, but it was an investigation into a kpokolo kingpin that cemented that fact.

With 25 men and 30 chainsaws, Emmanuel Gongor’s operations spanned four of Nimba’s nine districts. People called the miner-turned-logger “Emmanuel the Investor” for his habit of conducting community projects such as bridges and roads.

Documents and interviews with Gongor revealed that the FDA colluded with him for several years. During this time, he paid the agency tens of thousands of United States dollars in permit fees and waybills. One waybill showed that he paid the FDA US$424 for 212 pieces of kpokolo in May 2022, a few months before the ban.

The money Gongor paid the FDA did not go into the government’s consolidated account at the Central Bank of Liberia. Instead, it was paid into accounts at commercial banks, controlled by the FDA’s top management, a legal breach.

“The FDA agents are always informed when we are going to bring wood from the bush,” Gongor told The DayLight in 2023. “We make more money for forestry.”

Gongor’s kpokolo reign came to an end late 2022, barely a month before our explosive interview with him. Police seized 80 pieces of kpokolo from him at a checkpoint in Bahn, Nimba, ending an hour-long car chase.

The Gongor and Askon stories uncovered collusion among officials and Kpokolo businesspeople. However, a landmark investigation last April unearthed other individuals’ roles in the crime.

The April publication dug into a trove of documents to expose Ben Wesseh, a veteran customs broker, who smuggled timber for over a decade. The evidence showed that Wesseh, alongside his daughter, Benetta Wesseh, forged documents from the FDA and the Ministry of Agriculture to facilitate his crime.

Kpokolo by the roadside in Boyeah Town, Compound Two, Grand Bassa County, in 2022. Spotting them proved essential to unravelling the illegal trade. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The newspaper obtained recordings and screenshots of a WhatsApp chat between Mr. Wesseh and a client. The documents revealed Wesseh charged the client US$325 for two FDA documents and US$75 for a phytosanitary certificate, issued to certify that the consignment was pest-free. These revelations corroborated other evidence from an undercover investigation in Totoquelleh, Gbarpolu County, in 2024, as kpokolo resurfaced.

A police probe into Mr. Wesseh’s alleged crimes faltered. However, The DayLight investigation sparked reform of the Ministry of Agriculture’s phytosanitary department to prevent forgery of such a certificate.

But the samplings of the illegal trade remain.

The first evidence of this came from Gbaryama, a town in Gbarpolu’s Gbarma District. There in March 2024, reporters photographed hundreds of freshly-sawn kpokolo. Reporters also documented logs in a nearby forest that illegal loggers had harvested to mill kpokolo. They gathered that smugglers had contracted local chainsaw millers to produce the wood they trucked at night.

“They can hide it and take it away at night; people can’t easily see them in the day,” Armah Dukuly, Gbaryama’s Town Chief. “We don’t get that power to stop them.”

The DayLight’s latest kpokolo investigation occurred last January. The subject was Libfor Forest Corporation, which ran an unlicensed sawmill in Caldwell. Since 2022, Libfor has exported 51 times, valued at US$71,447, according to data compiled by British export tracker Experian. In May 2024, it shipped 55,000 cubic meters of kpokolo, valued at US$22,000. The company brought in workers from Sierra Leone, from where it smuggled wood into Liberia, official documents revealed.

Four days after the publication, two executives of Libfor were jailed and later charged. Their case at the Bushrod Island Magisterial Court has yet to begin.

Kpokolo might not have gone away. Certainly, there is evidence that the ban—as the result of the investigations—has significantly minimized the illicit trade. The FDA no longer issues permits for it or approves its transport, something it did for over a decade. Kpokolo operatives have switched to other things, based on our recent interviews and observation, and social media advertisements of the trade have disappeared.

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

FDA Explores Ecotourism Potential in Gola Park

April 9, 2026

Top: A view of the Gola National Park from Fonnor Town, Grand Cape Mount County. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

By Esau J. Farr

FONNOR TOWN, Grand Cape Mount County – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is exploring forests for potential ecotourism sites.

The exercise recently started with a visit to portions of the Gola National Park and other areas in Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu Counties. FDA’s Managing Director Rudolph Merab led a delegation of FDA staffers and tourism stakeholders on the mission.

“Some people want to come to Liberia to see and explore other things, especially when we talk about the rainforest. People from the West and the Americas want to come here, but we will have to come and set the stage…,” Merab told reporters.

“[What] we are trying to do is for people to know our forests. They’ve got to know the tree and animal species we have. We need to bring researchers to research the forests to find which trees can help us with our own health.”

Established in 2016, the Gola National Park is an 88,000-hectare forest that extends into neighboring Sierra Leone. It has a rich ecosystem with diverse wildlife. The park has 300 bird species, including the Gola Malinbe and the white-necked Picathartes, 49 mammal species, reptiles and amphibians.

The tour followed a recent trip to neighboring Sierra Leone last month to understand that country’s park management structure and operations.

The FDA Managing Director, Rudolph J. Merab, speaks at the agency’s Camp Fonnor. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

Merab said showcasing Liberia’s tourism potential would attract tourists to its forests and generate revenue. Tourism is one of the pillars of President Joseph Boakai’s developmental agenda for inclusion, a sector that has been underdeveloped for decades.

“This is meant to amplify the voice of the President on his tourism pillar in the ARREST agenda. That is why you are seeing me here in the forest,” adds Merab. The FDA intends to train young people in tourism so they can develop the sector in the future.

The tour was conducted jointly with the Liberia National Tourism Authority and the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL), a Monrovia-based NGO that helped establish the Gola Park.

A delegate of the Tourism Authority said the it was working with the FDA to map tourism activities in the country.

“We will tap into all the opportunities that these forests have and we are going to develop them sustainably,” said Juanita Yiah, the Tourism Authority’s technical director. “We want to do everything to make Liberia ecotourism-friendly.”

Tour delegates, including the FDA, the Tourism Authority and SCNL representatives at the FDA camp in Tima Town, Gbarpolu County. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

Calling birds

James Mulbah, SCNL’s landscape manager, praised local communities for the protection of the Gola Park. said locals needed support to maintain the park’s rich biodiversity.

“We have come to overlook this place to see how well we can attract national and international tourists to come,” said Mulbah.

“The community people have a way of calling birds and other animals and you see them coming to you live,” Mulbah mentioned several local tourism sites, including an elephant fall and a famous bird watch site.

The FDA, the tourism authority and conservationists acknowledge the community’s efforts in preserving the park over the years and assure them of tourism benefits.

The FDA is seeking support for researchers to conduct a study of tree and animal species and potential tourist sites.

“Whatever we do, whether it is commercial, conservation, or even carbon, it has to impact the lives of our people for the positive,” said Merab.

Liberia Fails to Report US$2.7B Mining Exports, Study Finds

April 7, 2026

Top: A drone shot of a zircon sand mine in Greenville, Sinoe County, in 2023. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – Liberia’s mining sector failed to report US$2.7 billion in gold and iron ore exports between 2007 and 2023, likely due to underreporting and/or smuggling, a new report found.

The US-based Forest Trends found that Liberia reported US$5.1 billion from mining exports over the 16 years. However, researchers established that importing countries reported US$7.8 billion from Liberia, resulting in the US$2.7 billion discrepancy.

“The scale of the problem is massive,” said Arthur Blundell, one of the report’s co-authors. “There is no reason to believe that what the government reported was a mistake because Liberian sources agree with the numbers.”

The report—”A Rapid Assessment of Liberia’s Mining Sector…”—determined that underreporting of export commodities and smuggling were the potential reasons for the revenue loss. Moreover, there are strong indications that the country could be giving away valuable revenue at a staggering rate. For instance, Liberia’s sales of rough diamonds and iron ore fell below the international benchmark during the reporting period.

Weak enforcement likely enabled underreporting, smuggling, and tax evasion, as well as environmental violations, costing hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

The report recommends that the government halt illegal mining, improve trade oversight, protect ecologically critical areas, ensure transparency, uphold community rights, and enforce companies’ legal obligations fully.

The report utilized legal review, trade data, and geospatial analysis. Data used in the study were collected from various government agencies, including the Ministry of Mines & Energy, Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Central Bank of Liberia, Liberia Revenue Authority, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers analyzed Liberia’s minerals exported to Switzerland, the EU, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and other countries.

A mine in Vaguay, Grand Cape Mount County, in 2020. Picture credit: James Harding Giahyue

Overall, the report found that it was impossible to calculate all losses due to a lack of transparency in the reporting process, as there were likely losses from unpaid import fees and withholding taxes, social security payments, surface rental, license fees, etc.

The Ministry of Mines did not return queries for comment on the report’s findings.

Community benefits and the environment

The report also established that unfulfilled promises, human rights abuses, and environmental damage, among other things, hinder the mining sector, which accounts for a fifth of Liberia’s GDP, while dominating exports and generating a significant share of government revenue despite the losses.

Mining impacts across communities have been staggering, the report found. The study revealed that communities were not benefiting from their natural resources. It shows companies are not complying with their legal obligations to communities.

There is no official reporting on whether mining companies are paying two percent of their exploration budget on local health and education, as required by the mineral exploration regulation, nor is there reporting on whether companies are giving five percent equity to communities as required by the Land Rights Act.

Overall, it found that 1.4 million hectares of community forest lands were overlapped by mining licenses, undermining local people’s economic opportunities, and thus their autonomy and right to self-determination. The mining environmental laws require permits for semi-industrial scale or class ‘B’ licenses.

Benefits legally guaranteed to communities remain unrealized, while affected communities increasingly face degraded lands, abandoned open pits—deepening their vulnerability and leaving them with more burdens than they can actually handle.

“We only know what has been reported for communities, not what has actually been done. Additional payments may have been made that were unreported, but also payments reportedly made for communities may also have been misdirected elsewhere,” said Blundell, noting that since 2012, rather than putting the revenue into community funds, the government has required all payments to first be deposited into the County accounts. “What has happened to these funds is not clear.” However, the report noted that the General Auditing Commission, in its most recent audit on County Development Fund spending, found gross violations and lack of oversight by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which they said may “lead to fraud…through the processing and disbursement of illegitimate transactions.”

“Any reform should include immediate steps to stem financial losses, compel compliance, and ensure accountability of compensation and other benefits sharing with local communities,” Blundell concluded.

The report revealed Liberia’s forests are at risk, with licenses overlapping more than 2 million hectares nationwide. Mining is undermining the environmental health of these forests, citing a report by Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency. For example, the EPA found that many Class ‘B’ license holders are not obtaining environmental permits, a major requirement under the mining law, and that companies were using heavy machines to pollute major watercourses.

Dredges on the Dugbe River in Sinoe County in 2023. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

The assessment found mining-linked deforestation, hazardous chemical mismanagement, and water pollution at an increasing rate, while monitoring and enforcement remain major challenges to tackling those issues nationwide.

Moreover, the Forest Trends assessment cautioned that these statistics do not include widespread artisanal, unlicensed mining because these mines go unreported by the Ministry of Mines & Energy.

Between 2021 and 2024, Liberia lost 390,000 hectares of primary forest to deforestation due to logging, agriculture expansion, and illegal mining, according to the Global Forest Watch. The recent boom in cocoa farming in the country’s southeast has increased the pace of deforestation.

The report recommends that the government stop illegal mining, enforce existing mining laws and regulations, increase consultations between miners and communities, urging miners to refill holes they dig across communities.

“What is needed now is more transparency, accountability, and a fundamentally different model of resource governance—one that prioritizes social equity, environmental sustainability, and community rights,” the report concludes.

Court Fines 28 for Illegal Mining in Sapo Park

April 5, 2026

Top: An illegal mine in the Sapo National Park. File picture/Forestry Development Authority

By Myer Saydi

GREENVILLE – A court in Sinoe County has fined 28 suspects and ordered them to do community service for illegal mining in the Sapo National Park.

The Greenville Magisterial Court fined the men US$1,300. It also ruled that they cut grass at the Presidential Palace in Greenville for seven working days.

The suspects had pleaded guilty to theft of property and criminal trespass following their arrest in February by park rangers. They escaped imprisonment because prosecutors did not prove they had any prior convictions for the crimes.

“I am happy for my clients despite government fines and community services because they are not going to jail,” said Franklin Myers, the convicts’ lawyer. “The court ruling is not based on public sentiment but on what the law says. So, I am happy for them.”

John Smith, Chief Warden of the Sapo National Park, said the ruling would serve as a deterrent to illicit occupants. Smith added that Liberia’s protected areas are critical to biodiversity conservation. He urged citizens to respect conservation laws and support sustainable practices.

Joint security forces arrested the men in February 2026 during an enforcement operation, court documents show. Security forces seized 4.2 grams of gold, a half-filled 25-kilogram bag of rice, six gallons of gasoline and eight pieces of carpet.

Authorities reported that the group was actively involved in unauthorized mining, a direct violation of Liberia’s forestry, mining, environmental and wildlife laws.

The ruling comes amid ongoing efforts to curb environmental degradation inside Liberia’s largest park. To date, thousands of illicit occupants have been removed from the 697-square-mile park, one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

This story is a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

Tag: Forestry Development Authority

2. A legal definition of ‘forest‘

9. Stronger monitoring of forestry operations

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