Duarzon, Margibi, Liberia/05/09/2025: Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf joined ranks with various Liberian civil society organizations, including the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) and other international organizations, on Friday, May 9, 2025, to voice her concerns regarding the European Union's (EU) proposed cancellation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with Liberia.
The VPA was established to combat illegal logging and promote sustainable forest management, ensuring that timber exports from Liberia comply with the European Union regulations. In her opinion piece published by The Guardian on Friday, May 9, 2025, the former Liberian leader said the potential cancellation will negatively affect the gains made by the country.
“We live in an interconnected global community where mutual support is essential. While the EU-Liberia VPA may not hold significant weight in every part of the world, it has been crucial to our social and economic security. This is an agreement that must not be cancelled,” she said.
As a former Liberian leader who took power immediately after the 14-year civil unrest, Madam Sirleaf recounted that Liberia has made significant strides in improving governance and accountability in the timber industry, and the EU's withdrawal could reverse these gains.
“In 2006, we secured passage of the National Forestry Reform Law. The reform process was supported by the UN, the World Bank, and the European Union, aiming to improve Liberia’s forest governance, promote sustainable management, enhance transparency in the sector, and secure the future of its vast forest resources. Today, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) runs systems that track timber harvesting, locating the geographic source and species of every piece of wood exported from Liberia,” she said.
In the opinion piece, she said, “Considering the context of Liberia, with its history of conflict, restoring the forestry sector is a slow process with many ups and downs. Cancelling the VPA would undermine our achievements over the years and seriously put any governance reforms at risk. This is not theoretical. The Grebo-Krahn national forest, on Liberia’s border with Ivory Coast, might not have survived to this day without more sustainable and economically feasible alternatives.”
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and advocate for women's rights and environmental sustainability, further said, “There is huge concern for the communities that live in and depend on the forest and all other threatened regions if illegal timber becomes the norm once more. It endangers our forests, threatens biodiversity, and undermines the efforts we have made towards sustainable development.”
It can be recalled that civil society organizations, including the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), in a press statement early in 2025, highlighted the importance of international partnerships in promoting responsible practices in the extraction and export of natural resources.
They reminded the EU that the VPA has not only benefited the environment but has also empowered communities through transparent practices and sustainable livelihoods.
Jonathan W. Yiah, Program Lead of the Forest Governance Program (FGP) at the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), said the involvement of the former Liberian leader has kindled a renewed sense of urgency that the VPA shouldn’t be cancelled.
Yiah said, “Madam Sirleaf’s advocacy is a reminder that the fight for a sustainable future requires not only CSOs, but also strong national and international associations because the story of Liberia’s forests is a symbol of resilience and collaboration for social and environmental justice.”
Yiah is calling on the government of Liberia to take the needed appropriate and legal steps in ensuring that the country's forestry sector is guided by the principles of transparency and accountability.