How the Liberia-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement has improved forest governance and law enforcement in Liberia

The context

Liberia is a forest-rich country still recovering from a timber-trade fuelled civil war which raged from 1989 to 2003, killing over 270,000 people. Peace was finally achieved partly thanks to civil society actors documenting the trade in timber and providing the United Nations (UN) with evidence needed for sanctions. Poor forest (and other) governance has hampered Liberia’s development and perpetuated conflict. There is therefore a critical need for strong, local civil society organisations to establish proper oversight.

By the end of the war, 60% of Liberia had been turned into 28, often overlapping, logging concessions. These were overturned thanks to a review commissioned by the newly elected president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005. It also led to a moratorium on logging operations.¹

The review created space for the National Forest Reform Law 2006, which put a new legal framework in place to properly regulate the timber trade, as well as laws giving communities ownership rights over their customary land (the Community Rights Law 2009 and the Land Rights Act 2018). This new legal framework means Liberia has one of the most inclusive forest governance systems in the world.

Liberia’s main problem, therefore, is not in producing laws, but in implementing them.

The decades of conflict have created a “lost generation.” There is a high level of illiteracy and a lack of education, which is compounded by corruption and the lack of: medical and other facilities; infrastructure (there are only three functioning tarmacked roads);² and trust.

At the same time, the ecological and social value of Liberia’s forests cannot be overestimated.

Most of Liberia’s domestic energy requirements are met by wood-fuel and charcoal; non-timber forest products are hugely important, with bush-meat and fish providing the majority of the rural population’s protein, alongside fruits, nuts, traditional medicines and building materials; and less than 20% of the population has paid employment.

In such a situation, the EU-Liberia Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) is of huge importance.

Started in 2009; the VPA was signed in 2011 and ratified in 2013. This relatively fast movement was partly due to the high level of civil society engagement. They see the VPA as integral in the implementation of the Forest Reform Law and the development and implementation of the Community Rights Law and the Land Rights Act.

What does the VPA consist of?

VPAs are bilateral legally binding trade agreements - ratified by the Parliament of both parties. They commit the EU and the partner country to eliminate trade in illegally sourced timber. The partner country agrees to develop, through a multi-stakeholder process, a credible and robust timber legality assurance system, to be transparent with information and to undertake legal and policy reforms and independent audits.

A Joint Implementing Committee (JIC) consisting of representatives of the EU and the partner country, guides and monitors implementation. The JIC meets bi-annually and is fed by national level implementing committees (made up of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), private sector and Government representatives.³ These inclusive structures have been a crucial part of addressing illegal logging and improving governance.

The VPA provides a unique combination of trade levers and governance reforms. Its multistakeholder approach helps achieve social, environmental and economic goals.

VPA achievements in Liberia

2005-2017
There was a post-war eagerness to work on key drivers of conflict such as unfair trade (and benefit sharing) and lack of clarity about community land rights. The VPA was signed and ratified under Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government (2005-2017) and much progress was made in addressing illegalities and improving forest governance. Most notably a timber traceability system was set up; an attempt to hand out forests to a specific type of logging concessions (called Private Use Permits) was dismantled, and the head of the Forest Development Authority (FDA) was convicted of economic crimes. EU funding allowed local NGOs to independently monitor the forestry sector and media to hold the Government to account. A joint committee, consisting of NGO, private sector and Government representatives was set up to implement the VPA (and thereby Liberia’s legal framework), and a mechanism was created to allow funds from logging to flow directly to communities for the first time.

2017-2023
Under the subsequent George Weah administration (2017- 2023), progress stalled. The FDA leadership did not attend the national multi-stakeholder meetings, logging revenues owed to communities stalled and corruption increased. But the VPA-framework’s national timber legality and traceability system shone light on illegalities, which were then raised by the active NGO community and local press. The VPA infrastructure was crucial for limiting the damage done during the Weah administration.

2023 - Present
The current Joseph Boakai administration has renewed attempts to implement the VPA, re-instating joint committees, putting in place a moratorium on carbon concessions to avoid rushing into bad deals;⁴ halting illegal exports; and restarted payments of logging revenues to communities. Considering Liberia’s history of violent conflict, restoring forest governance is a slow and complex process. Cancelling the VPA would put achievements at risk, whilst seriously damaging wider governance reforms.

Before the VPA:

• Communities affected by logging had no mechanism to receive the income they were entitled to5 (estimated to be several million US$).
• No direct communication between communities, the government and NGOs on ensuring proper implementation of the National Forest Reform Law and Community Rights Law.
• No legal clarity around the right to operate a logging business, land ownership or management.
• Little FDA capacity and no functioning headquarters.
• Little NGO and independent media capacity, limiting means to hold authorities to account.
• No infrastructure to trace natural commodities and identify illegalities or non-payment of taxes and fees.

 

Since VPA ratification:

• Government is now receiving around half of the land rental fees owed (at least US$43 million paid with US$31 million outstanding.)⁶
• Communities have now received US$4.3 million with US$5.8 million outstanding.
• The National Benefit Sharing Trust Fund is in place for companies to directly pay communities.
• NGOs are coordinated and informed, and jointly support communities to access their rights and hold the Government to account, thanks to VPA-established national governance structures.
• FDA staff are trained and have a functioning office.
• Network of trained rural reporters and national media organisations holds the Government and companies to account.
• Land rights have been clarified, and the Community Rights Law and the Land Rights Act are being implemented.
• A functioning traceability system is generating revenue for the country, exposing high levels of illegality under the previous administration and recent improvements in enforcement.
• Structural support for implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation, such as around legality and traceability requirements for timber.

 

Categories: Briefing Notes, EU Partnerships, Liberia