Top: The headquarters of the Forestry Development Authority in Whein Town, Paynesville. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
By Esau J. Farr
MONROVIA – A logging company cut numerous trees outside its authorized area in a Nimba community forest, according to an unpublished, official report, seen by the newspaper.
The June report found that Westwood Corporation harvested an unspecified number of logs outside the Gba Community Forest in the Sanniquillie-Mahn District. Forestry Development Authority (FDA) investigators found that Westwood worked 4 kilometers outside the 450-acre forestland, confirming a DayLight investigation. The newspaper had utilized satellite imagery to establish the illicit activities following an initial probe that raised plenty of legal questions.
“All the harvested logs were felled elsewhere without any traceability,” the report read. Samuel Cooper, Westwood’s manager, did not respond to questions for comment on the report.
The FDA initiated the investigation after receiving a tip from SGS, an independent verifier, which was concerned about the quantity of logs coming from the plot. Investigators found Westwood harvested in Gba’s conservation area, a regional biodiversity hotspot. Gba is adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve, part of the Nimba Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Their felling was scattered,” the report said, “under the pretense of constructing an alternative road.”
It was unclear how many logs Westwood harvested. However, the report put the total logs in one location as 1,135 (5,694 cubic meters), valued US$127,729. Westwood exported 216 logs (921 cubic meters) in March to Italy when the scam had not been discovered.
A drone shot of Westwood Corporation’s illegal logging activities in the Gba Community Forest in Nimba County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
The report urged the FDA to halt Westwood’s operations and punish the company for “economic sabotage.” Westwood had signed an agreement with Gba to clear-cut the 450 acres for an ArcelorMittal Liberia waste plant.
Westwood faces a fine of three times the value of the logs it harvested, and logs it has already exported in line with the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber, and Timber Products. The penalties also include a six-month imprisonment, or a fine and a prison term.
The report urged the FDA to confiscate and auction Westwood’s unsold logs as the regulation requires.
Additionally, FDA investigators found that Gba’s leadership was “complicit” in the underhanded operations. “During the investigation, it was discovered that the [leadership] had full knowledge of Westwood’s illegal actions,” the report added.
Nyan Flomo, a Gba leader who is familiar with the operations, said he was still reviewing the report. The DayLight caught up with Augustine Suah, Gba’s leader, at an event in Congo Town, but he declined an interview.
The report said Aaron Nyenebo, a ranger assigned to that region, and an unnamed FDA staffer, “condoned” Westwood’s illegal activities. Investigators are calling for a further probe and a possible dismissal due to the scale of the illicit harvesting. The report quoted Nyenebo, the accused ranger, as alleging that the FDA management in Monrovia was aware that the harvesting was outside of the legal location.
Efforts to contact Nyenebo for his side of the story did not materialize, as he did not answer phone calls. The DayLight will update this story once it contacts him.
Investigators also urged the FDA to take administrative actions against Gba’s leadership over its role.
Though submitted on June 20, the FDA has yet to publish, mention, or act on the report. Managing Director Rudolph Merab did not respond to email queries regarding what is perhaps the biggest forestry crime committed during his administration.
This is a Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia production.
Top: The stump of a tree Westwood Corporation harvested outside a 450-acre authorized area in the Gba Community Forest, based on satellite imagery. The evidence also established that the firm even harvested outside the community forest. The DayLight/James Flomo
By Esau Farr and James Flomo
SEHYI-GEH – Earlier this year, Westwood Corporation, a firm with no known logging experience, harvested timber outside its authorized area in the Gba Community Forest in Nimba’s Yarmein and Sanniquillie-Mahn Districts, a DayLight investigation has found.
In 2016, ArcelorMittal Liberia signed an MoU with Gba, giving the community US$150,000 to clear 450 acres of rocky forestland to construct a mine waste plant. However, Gba misapplied the money and turned to loggers to do the job multiple times in eight years.
Those efforts failed until this January this year, when Gba signed the agreement with West Wood, known for roadworks. The agreement included logs that previous companies had abandoned in the 11,538-hectare forest.
Westwood soon began the felling, and exported 216 logs (921.124 cubic meters) in two March shipments, according to the FDA’s records. An initial DayLight investigation found that the exports were illegal in several ways. The logs had been harvested under an agreement that did not match a legal forestry contract. The logs were exported to Europe despite not being from a legal source, violating Liberia’s timber trade agreement with the European Union.
But this investigation established that things were a lot worse. Geolocations of tree stumps with Westwood tags show the company harvested outside the designated area, apparently targeting expensive, first-class timber. Reporters photographed a dirt road that the company paved inside the forest to access the logs.
Using official dataset and geolocation technology, The DayLight used coordinates fitted into pictures taken of stumps of trees Westwood harvested to draw a map, exposing the illegal harvest.
It was unclear how many logs were illegally harvested. However, DayLight estimated 250 first-class logs in the Makingo Town. Their species—ekki and niangon—matched those Westwood exported in March.
It is unclear how many logs were harvested outside a 450-acre designated area in the Gba Community Forest. Picture credit: Anonymous
Westwood’s activities were an open secret. Three DayLight visits found that people and the Gba leadership were aware of the illegal harvest.
“They went to Gbarpa, where they did not send them, felled logs and carried them,” said Paul Gahnto, Sehyi-Geh Town’s assistant youth chairman.
The illegal harvesting adds to Nimba’s deforestation. Between 2002 and 2024, Nimba recorded 393,000 hectares of tree cover loss, second only to Bong (434,000 hectares), according to Global Forest Watch, which tracks countries’ deforestation. A tree cover is any vegetation that is at least three meters high.
World Heritage Site
The illegal harvest is counterproductive to a region known internationally for conservation.
Gba and its neighbors—Blei, Sehyi Ko-doo and Zor—serve as a buffer with East Nimba Reserve, a part of the Nimba Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, running through Guinea and the Ivory Coast. The region is home to the Nimba flycatcher, the Nimba toad and other endangered and common species.
Based on the region’s importance, Gba and the other communities have an agreement with the Liberian government and ArcelorMittal to protect the forest there. As part of the agreement, the steel giant supports the communities’ conservation programs, including a monthly stipend for forest guards and tree planting.
Gba, in particular, has also received support for its conservation from other institutions. It had been established by a USAID project and continued to receive support from the United States Forest Service. Since 2023, Social Entrepreneurs for Development (SESDev) has worked with Gba’s leadership to strengthen its governance mechanism.
Westwood adds to the list of companies Gba has contracted to clear the controversial 450 acres. In 2016, LTTC Thanry signed a contract with Gba but did not deliver. Later in 2021, Six S International entered the picture, but, like LTTC Thanry, it failed.
A map utilizing satellite imagery shows areas affected by the illegal harvest outside the Gba Community ForestRudolph Merab’s letter approving Westwood’s harvest in the Gba Community Forest, bypassing forestry regulations
Before those deals, Gba was among several community forests whose status the FDA’s board canceled in 2014 for errors. The agency had mistakenly combined Gba with Zor and had to be split into two community forests.
‘Hereby granted’
The Forestry Development Authority played a part in the illegal harvest. Managing Director Rudolph Merab ignored legal requirements and authorized West Wood.
In normal logging practices, the FDA counts and marks trees in a mapped area before harvest. Then, there are FDA fieldworkers who monitor the process and verify the legality of the log before export.
In Gba’s case, a warning letter replaced that rule, even though more crucial, given the nature of the harvest.
“You are obligated to ensure your operations comply with the legal framework,” wrote Merab. “You are required to tag all standing trees.
“You are hereby granted approval to commence operation in the Gba Community Forest.”
Interestingly, Merab lowered the bar Mike Doryen, his immediate predecessor, had set for Gba. Doryen, whose administration was characterized by forestry offenses, ensured that previous companies obeyed the rules.
Rules aside, the FDA did not verify West Wood’s legal documents before approving its operations in Gba. The company’s article of incorporation does not list its shareholders. The document has only two articles in the legal documents: I and III. This violates the Beneficial Ownership Regulation, which mandates businesses to name the people who own them.
Westwood’s illegal article of incorporation
That rule does not only apply when registering a business. It is also a forestry requirement. The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications requires a company’s owners or “significant individuals” to be scrutinized. It curtails conflicts of interest involving public officials and prevents forest resources from being placed into the hands of broke or dishonest individuals.
The FDA and Samuel Cooper, owner of Westwood, did not respond to requests for comments.
The Forestry Development Authority investigated the harvest following the initial DayLight publication, but has not released any report months on. Logging outside an authorized area is a crime, punishable by a fine, imprisonment and penalties.
Nyan Flomo, a Gba leader, fears locals will bear the brunt of West Wood’s actions. Flomo now runs Gba’s affairs due to the death of Samuel Johnson, Gba’s leadership head, in March.
“What we heard is that the FDA will investigate, declare the logs abandoned, auction [them] and give the community its benefits,” said Flomo, who initially supported Westwood and was critical of The DayLight investigation. “We are still looking up to the FDA to give us the [official] outcomes of the investigation they carried out.”
The story was produced by the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ).
Top: An elevated view of a 450-acre plot in the Gba Community Forest in Nimba County being cleared for a mine waste plant. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
By Esau J. Farr
ArcelorMittal Liberia gave the Gba Community Forest US$150,000 to clear 450 acres for a waste plant, but locals misused the money
Gba and Westwood Corporation signed an MoU to clear-cut the area anyway to make up for the stolen funds
The deal includes an unspecified number of logs that a previous company had illegally harvested, costing the government revenue
FDA authorized Westwood to skip harvesting requirements, including a mapping and GPS-recording of trees, undoing the immediate past administration’s legal order
Westwood exported the timber to Italy, though the harvesting breaks Liberia’s timber trade agreement with the European Union
GBAPA, Nimba County – A cleared patch of the Gba Community Forest, a rocky conservation woodland, welcomes visitors to Sehyi Geh Town. Chainsaw-wielding loggers from a little-known company pile up logs in the clear-cut patch.
As it stands, Westwood Corporation has exported a combined 216 logs (921.124 cubic meters) from Gba, according to official records. The consignments were shipped in March to Sangiorgi Lugnami, a renowned Italian company. A third export of 142 logs has been requested for Bangladesh in the name of Leifwood APS of Denmark.
The exports, however, violate Liberia’s timber trade agreement with the European Union, known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). Under the 2011 agreement, only logs from legal sources, listed and verified, can be exported.
Westwood signed an MoU to clear-cut 450 acres (about 182 hectares) of forestland in the 10,939-hectare forest in Nimba County’s Yarmein District. Westwood agreed to pay Gba US$8 per cubic meter, with the agreement ending next month. A receipt, seen by The DayLight, shows that Westwood deposited US$3,570 into a Gba account last month.
“They have proven to us that they are capable of doing the job due to the machinery they have,” said Samuel Johnson, Gba’s leader, in March. Johnson died shortly after the interview.
But the Gba-Westwood MoU does not qualify the logs as legally sourced. There are five contracts or permits in forestry where legal timber comes from. They are: a forest management contract, a timber sale contract, a community forest management agreement, a private use permit, and a forest use permit.
The GBA-Westwood deal comes close to a forest use permit but differs from it remarkably. This permit is issued through a procurement procedure, for research, tourism, or local use, according to the National Forestry Reform Law and the Regulation on Tender, Award and Administration of Contracts and Permits. The VPA is based on Liberian legal instruments.
Two experts The DayLight interviewed, who preferred not to be named, said the Gba logs were only for domestic markets. They can be converted into planks, generate additional income for locals, and provide temporary employment opportunities for chainsaw millers.
The Nimba flycatcher
Initially, Westwood was not in the picture. ArcelorMittal Liberia had given Gba US$150,000 in 2014 to clear 450 acres for a mine waste plant. The money was also compensation for a 60-acre plot the company had earlier cleared.
Gba, however, misapplied the funds and failed to clear the area. Subsequently, Gba’s allegedly corrupt leadership was replaced in a scandal that rocked community forestry.
“[ArcelorMittal] paid US$150,000 to Gba to buy a machine or equipment to fell these trees or clear everything out of the site,” said Saye Thompson, the leader for the Blei Community Forest in the same region.
Westwood has exported 216 logs from an illegal source to Italy. Picture credit: Anonymous
Nyan Flomo, who has taken up a leadership role in the wake of Johnson’s death, corroborated that account. ArcelorMittal did not respond to queries for comment up to press time.
The US$150,000 aside, the Westwood arrangement breaks Gba’s original MoU with ArcelorMittal. The document obligates the steel giant to identify trees and guide the clear-cutting process. It nullifies any other MoU associated with the harvesting, such as the one with Westwood.
Gba and ArcelorMittal are conservation partners. Gba is one of four communities adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR). Home to the endangered Nimba toad and Nimba flycatcher, the ENNR is part of the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site, running through Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea.
Gba co-manages the 13,500-hectare forestland alongside ArcelorMittal, FDA, Blei, Sehyi Ko-doo, and Zor. This collaboration helps protect plants and animals of that region, which, experts say, renders logging harmful to that ecosystem.
And the stakes are higher for Westwood, with Gba its first official operation. The company has experience in construction, having constructed a stretch of the Gbarnga-Lofa highway in 2014. Samuel Cooper, its CEO, declined to speak on the matter.
‘Inability to perform’
Permitting Westwood to export, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) undid what its past administration had done to enforce the law. In a February letter, Managing Director Rudolph Merab excluded Westwood from cutting blocks—regulated forest portions where harvesting occurs. Merab, who did not return emailed questions, has spoken before about deregulation and a drive to increase timber exports.
“Following a desk review of your acquisition of the Gba Community Forest…, you are hereby approved to commence operations,” read the letter.
Merab’s action is the complete opposite of how the FDA handled the Gba case nearly 10 years ago. In 2016, Gba signed a similar MoU with the Liberia Tree Trading Company Thanry. However, the FDA administration then ensured that LTTC Thanry had an annual plan that contained blocks and a map to regulate the harvesting, at least consistent with the law.
Later, Gba terminated LTTC Thanry’s contract due to its “inability to perform,” bringing in Six S (6S) International Trading Limited.
Screenshot of a 2016 FDA report that validated 450 acres in the Gba Community Forest to be clear-cut. However, the current FDA administration deviated from this standard to allow Westwood Corporation to clear-cut the forest.
Though Six S had the capacity, the FDA disapproved of the new company’s harvest because it deviated from the approved plan, several past and present FDA officials familiar with the matter said.
“I [confirm] that during my time at the [legality verification department], 6S did not receive any export permit in LiberTrace,” said Deputy FDA Managing Director Gertrude Nyaley. At the time, Mrs. Nyaley headed the department, which co-manages LiberTrace, the computer system that tracks Liberian timber. She said the company had a tax issue, but, like the anonymous sources, presented no evidence. Six S’s official number did not ring, and it did not answer emailed queries.
Whether unauthorized harvesting or taxes, the Gba-Westwood MoU included an unspecified number of the problematic logs that Six S cut. This violates the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products.
Per the regulation, the FDA is required to investigate, seek a warrant to auction the logs, and fine Six S. Instead, Merab permitted Six S to sell the logs in question to Westwood for US$34 and US$55, losing that revenue.
‘Behind the Curtain’
Gba locals The DayLight interviewed said they were unaware of the Westwood agreement. They had only heard it through the sound of earthmovers and loggers in the forest.
“First, when they came, they just went into the forest and we said, ‘No, you don’t do things like that,’” recalled Aaron Lah, the town chief of Sehyi Geh Town. ‘“This is a town and people are here. Why did you people just come and not reach the townspeople before going into the forest?’”
The Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SESDev), a Paynesville-based NGO training Gba’s leaders in forest governance since 2023, said it was not informed about the deal.
Thompson, the Community Forests Union’s head, said there were missteps.
“If you don’t share information on what you are doing, it becomes corruption,” said Thompson. “Everything is behind the curtain.”
Liberia Forest Media Watch provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over the story’s content.
