- hot-spots
- deforestation
- Liberia
- Deforestation in Liberia

Problems
Causes of deforestation in Liberia
In Liberia—which contains a large part of western Africa's rainforest and hosts threatened species including western chimpanzees and forest elephants—deforestation, driven by illegal logging, has ranked below poverty and violence on the list of pressing national concerns. Liberian communities depend on forests for their survival, from the wood they cook with and use for constructing their houses. Besides providing livelihoods, forests offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion, provide habitat for flora and fauna and help mitigate climate change. Liberia’s forest is under serious threat. There are massive legal and illegal logging activities everywhere in the forest. Protected forest areas are being invaded on the quest for mineral resources, firewood, and human settlement. Causes of deforestation in Liberia : ● Slash-and-burn agriculture is one of the human activities eroding Liberia's natural forests. ● 99 per cent of Liberians burnt charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation. ● Coastal mangrove swamps were also being burnt for fuel, removing nursery grounds for fish and the mangroves role as a natural flood defence. ● Mining operations in Liberia caused damage through the excavation of forests and riverbeds. ● Climate change in Liberia causes many problems. Because of its location in Africa, it is vulnerable to extreme weather, the coastal effects of sea level rise, and changing water systems. Climate change is severely impact the forestry.
Gallery
5Timelines
2023
January 27
Liberia’s courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of logging company Renaissance, even issuing arrest warrants for the FDA personnel in charge of timber verification when they maintained that they couldn’t legally process the logs. According to Mongabay’s sources, as the court-imposed deadline expired on Jan. 26, the FDA was still assessing how to comply with the court’s order without improperly entering the logs — which remain in Liberia for now — into the legality verification system. It remains unknown whether there is a buyer lined up for the logs, some of which have likely degraded after years of exposure to the elements. Were they to be exported to the U.S. or Europe, the buyer would run afoul of multiple laws in those jurisdictions and be subject to criminal sanctions. If sold, advocates say they expect them instead to be shipped to East Asia. FDA director Doryen did not respond to multiple email requests for comment by Mongabay. In a statement, 14 international environmental groups from Europe, the U.S. and China expressed “alarm” over the case and said it appeared the courts were “intent on directing FDA staff to carry out illegal activities.” “We are extremely disturbed that the Liberian courts, instigated by logging company Renaissance, seem intent to punish FDA staff for doing their duty,” they wrote. The groups urged Norway, one of the biggest providers of environmental aid to Liberia, and other donors to suspend money from carbon financing until the Liberian government accounts for the legal and policy breakdowns leading to the case. The case renews concerns over the state of rainforest management in Liberia, which has been the beneficiary of multiple high-profile foreign aid packages in recent years, including a $150 million agreement with Norway meant to curb illegal logging.
January 16
Liberia’s Second Circuit Court issued a final judgment in the case, ordering the FDA to facilitate the export of the illegal logs within 10 days or face jail time.
2021
Since 2016, Dutch banks ING Group, ABN AMRO and Rabobank provided $3.5 billion to agricultural projects that led to deforestation around the world, including in Liberia. This is according to the report “Dutch Financial Sector Leads Europe in Financing Deforestation“ published by the conservation organizations Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Profundo. The two organizations examined the financial flows between Dutch financial institutions and companies that deal in commodities with a high risk of tropical deforestation, including palm oil, beef, pulp and paper, soy, rubber, cocoa and coffee.
2020
According to an unpublished report from an investigation into the case that was carried out by Liberia’s Ministry of Justice and obtained by Mongabay, the tip led the FDA to 1,640 illegally harvested not logs in a lot owned by Renaissance Group Incorporated. The report outlined a string of irregular and questionable decisions made by top FDA officials following that discovery, including the imposition of a fine against Renaissance amounting to just $5,000 — a tiny fraction of the timber’s market value. Despite the ongoing investigation by the Ministry of Justice, senior officials at the FDA issued multiple export permits for the logs since 2019 which led to around 9,000 m3 (318,000 ft3) of the logs being sold and shipped to overseas buyers, according to the agency’s records. Precisely how much timber remains in Renaissance’s possession is unclear, highlighting weaknesses in Liberia’s chain of custody and export controls.
2018
Liberia had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.79/10, ranking it 116th globally out of 172 countries. Communities in a remote part of central Liberia’s Grand Bassa county alerted the FDA, the Liberian agency responsible for supervising the country’s forests, to suspicious logging taking place in an area that wasn’t demarcated for commercial timber extraction.
2014
In September, Liberia and Norway struck an agreement whereby Liberia ceases all logging in exchange for $150 million in development aid.
2012
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf granted licenses to companies to cut down 58% of all the primary rainforest left in Liberia.[4] After international protests, many of those logging permits were cancelled.
2004
Since 1990, forest cover in Liberia had fallen by around seven percent to just over 31 per cent of Liberia's total area.
2003
Illegal logging has increased in Liberia since the end of the Second Civil War.