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Forest Investment Program (FIP) with the backing of the Climate
Investment Funds. Ghana, Burkina Faso and the Democratic
Republic of Congo are participating as pilot countries, having been
selected in 2010. The Bank is collaborating with the World Bank
and the International Finance Corporation to prepare and finance
several initiatives under the FIP to support the investment phase
of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in
Developing Countries (REDD+).
The Bank is committed to supporting capacity-
building through the design of bankable projects, monitoring,
reporting and auditing to enable adaptation to and mitigation of
climate change in Africa. A number of small projects are already being
funded by the Congo Basin Forest Fund in the Democratic Republic
of Congo in support of the National REDD+ Strategy. The next United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of
Parties (COP 17) is being held in Africa at the end of 2011 and the
Bank is also using this opportunity to sensitize the world to forestry
challenges and opportunities in Africa.
Towards sustainable forest management
A number of constraints make it difficult for the majority of African
countries to implement sustainable forest management practices.
Forestry has historically been assigned a low priority compared to food
security, health, education and other urgent issues. As a consequence,
insufficient budgetary allocations hamper attempts at sustainable forest
management, which requires that countries take a long term view.
Weak forestry institutions in many African countries have resulted
in the failure to achieve adequate conservation and sustainable
management of the continent’s forest resources. In addition, mutu-
ally reinforcing market and policy failures promote unsustainable
management and use of forest resources. A mechanism to promote the
participation and involvement of local communities and the private
sector in sustainable forestry management initiatives is lacking.
Partnerships for change
In the last two years, the Bank has increased collaboration with other
partners to enhance private sector forestry development in Africa. It
has committed US$20 million to the Global Environment Fund Africa
Sustainable Forestry Fund to enhance private sector participation in
forestry and forestry-related companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. These
interventions are playing a catalytic role in encouraging governments
and other development partners to invest more in the forestry sector.
An appropriate policy environment will ensure that partnerships
that promote benefits for all stakeholders, including local commu-
nities, are strengthened. Forestry is closely linked to agriculture,
food security and sustainable water resources management, which
are key issues that are being addressed in the Bank’s interventions.
Climate change has become a major threat to sustainable economic
growth and poverty reduction and could ultimately threaten politi-
cal stability in some regions as competition over available natural
resources increases. Africa is still highly dependent on fuelwood and
charcoal as sources of energy and there are no obvious alternatives in
the short term. Addressing this challenge requires both supply-side and
demand-side interventions. More plantations for fuelwood supply will
be required, along with more efficient technologies for using biomass.
In addition, adoption of various renewable energy options is imperative
in order to meet the energy demand.
The forestry sector has been adversely affected by increasing popula-
tions, weak forestry institutions and significant social, economic and
political demands on forest resources. Conflicts and wars
in some regions have created conditions for illegal exploi-
tation and destruction of forest ecosystems, exacerbated
by the influx of refugees. Private sector operators also
continue to plunder forest resources without regard to
environmental conservation and resource sustainability.
Concessions and licence holders need to be regulated and
encouraged to adopt efficient extraction and utilization
technologies as well as sustainable forest management
principles. Furthermore, they should be encouraged to
respond to the social needs of affected communities as
part of their corporate social responsibilities.
It is imperative that countries and development part-
ners work together to ensure that poverty reduction
interventions meet environmental sustainability criteria.
Financing and technical capacities for the forestry sector
should also be enhanced and interventions in agriculture,
infrastructure and irrigation should complement forestry
sector investments to ensure sustainability.
Encouraging trends
Despite the many difficulties African forestry faces, the
Bank has noted emerging positive trends in the sector
in some African countries, which have reorganized their
forestry institutions and reformed their policies and laws
to make them more responsive to current challenges.
This allows local communities and the private sector to
take on more significant roles and responsibilities in the
management of forest resources. A greater appreciation
of the global value of forests is also evident. Against this
background, the Bank is committed to working with
governments and other development partners to ensure
maximum benefits to Africa’s people.
The Liberian forestry sector
Liberia has a total land area of about 96,320 square
kilometres. Forest cover is about 4.8 million hectares,
representing almost 50 per cent of three main vegetation
zones, namely coastal vegetation (savanna woodland, tropical
rainforest and the northern savanna)
• Liberia currently has the largest remaining portion of the
Upper Guinea Forest Ecosystem with an estimated 42 per
cent of the total
• The 2006 National Forestry Reform Law inter alia states that
‘All forest resources in Liberia are the property of the Republic,
except communal and forest resources privately owned which
have been developed through artificial regeneration’
Prospects for sustainable management of Liberia’s forests
• Well-developed policy frameworks which employ three
forest management regimes known as the ‘three Cs’,
namely commercial, community and conservation forestry
• High potential for revenue development
• Poor governance structure occasioned by weak institutions
• Ambiguity in national forest policy framework and weak
implementation of the policy strategies
• Liberia has a total land area of about 96,320 square
kilometres. Forest cover is about 4.8 million ha,
representing almost 50 per cent of three main vegetation
zones, namely coastal vegetation (savanna woodland,
tropical rainforest and the northern savanna