community forest governance in liberia

Community Forest Governance in Liberia

… an overview of the process

Dominic KwemeOrganizational Development & Governance Advisor

PROSPER, TetraTech ARD/CJPSDecember 12, 2013

People Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER)

• 3 field offices• 10 sites in Nimba & Grand Bassa

Counties• 16 clan groups• 151+ villages• ~100,000 hectares• Outreach and awareness

– Education– Supporting rule of law

• Forest management– Implementing law– Capacity building of

responsible institutions• Economic development

– Livelihood initiatives

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: FORESTRY LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The National Forestry Reform Law (2006)

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Shall classify all lands

Specify areas for the 3Cs: • Commercial• Conservation• Community Forestry• Any other…

Requirement for a National Forest Management Strategy (NFRL §§4.4a-g)

COMMUNITY FORESTS

The NFRL and the Community Rights Law of 2009

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Community Forestry: The governance and management of Forest Resources in designated areas by communities for commercial and non-commercial purposes to further their livelihoods and development. NFRL §1.3

Intent of the NFRL & CRL• Empower communities to engage in sustainable forest

management: prior informed consent

Objectives of the CRL• Define community and FDA rights and responsibilities of

ownership, management, use and benefits• Establish informed representation• Ownership rights to the forest resources

FMC, TSC v. CFMA: the role of communities

FMC & TSC• Communities are “affected” but

do not own the resources• Concessions manage the

forest• Communities automatically

receive a portion of land rental fees and production fees

• Communities sign Social Agreements with concessionaires

CFMA• Communities own the

resources• Communities manage the

forest• Communities have the right to

negotiate for up to 55% of revenues

• Communities sign contracts with contractors

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Authorized Community Forestry

A nine step process…

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A nine step process…

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A nine step process…

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A nine step process…

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A nine step process…

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How long does this take????

Step 8: Development of governance structures

• Election in community for CA• Selection of Executive Committee• Appointment of CFMB

• Extensive outreach & awareness

• Stakeholder meeting to develop criteria for CA representation

• Outreach on elections

Capacity Building

• Leadership training• Conflict

management• Financial

management• Negotiations skills• Inventory

techniques• GPS training

Challenges

• Laws don’t translate into practice• Good laws need political will,

training and capacity building to implement

• FDA Capacity – Technical support for boundary

demarcation, mapping, management planning

– Training Requirements– Limited staff

• CRL Procedural difficulties– CFMB registration

• Not explicitly covered by VPA

Participation

Thank you….

The PROSPER team thanks you for your support. Please contact the following persons or any PROSPER team member:

• Dominic Kweme, Organizational Development and Governance Advisor dkweme@ard-prosper.com

• Stephen Reid, Chief of Party sreid@ard-prosper.com

• Vaneska Litz, DCOP/CF & Land Tenure Lead vlitz@ardinc.com