The Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) / Friends of the Earth, Liberia, is calling for urgent and proactive actions by the Government of Liberia to curtail massive deforestation and the loss of critical biodiversity taking place in the Southeastern region (especially Grand Gedeh County) of Liberia. In its recent forest and biodiversity protection awareness activities across forest communities in Konobo District, Grand Gedeh County, the SDI documented huge piles of deforestation evidence linked to the uncontrolled expansion of cocoa farming. This unregulated trend poses a serious threat to the Tai-Sapo transboundary landscape, which hosts huge forest ecosystems, mammal species diversity of any region worldwide, and supports some of the last remaining populations of West Africa’s great apes, including the western chimpanzee.
This call by the Sustainable Development Institute comes after a week of an investigative trip into Grand Gedeh County. SDI expressed concern over what it described as a growing wave of forest clearing driven by increased cocoa farming involving migrant farmers, particularly Burkinabé nationals, alongside local community members.
Grand Gedeh is part of Liberia’s bio-diverse Upper Guinean rainforest belt, home to endangered wildlife and critical watersheds. However, SDI says increasing cocoa farming activities inside community forests are accelerating tree loss at an alarming rate.
SDI’s investigation documented that both locals and Burkinabe are engaging in rapid land and forest clearing and destruction of forest trees to establish cocoa farms. They are doing these activities without proper land-use planning and environmental safeguards, SDI says the forest degradation could become irreversible if care is not taken. According to a local leader, “The farmers - both local community members and migrant workers are actually literally setting the forest on fire by burning and trees.”
Speaking following an onsite observation of the destruction, Sampson M. Williams, National Program Assistant at SDI, said, “These communities must understand the long-term consequences of unrestricted cocoa expansion, especially in the community forest areas.” Williams, in each of the communities visited, emphasized that forest loss does not only affects biodiversity but also disrupts rainfall patterns, soil fertility, and community livelihoods.
The SDI is calling on the relevant government agencies and ministries (Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Liberia Agriculture Regulatory Agency, Liberia Land Authority, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take immediate collaborative actions on this new wave of forest degradation. The organization is also calling for more education for communities to clearly understand Liberia’s land and forestry laws. SDI believes that empowering communities with knowledge will reduce the deforestation currently taking place in the district. The organization wants a massive grassroots awareness campaign targeting towns and villages across Konobo District, especially forest-fringe communities.
Beyond awareness, SDI is calling on national authorities to increase monitoring of forest activities and ensure compliance with environmental regulations. The organization stressed that cocoa farming can contribute to local economic growth, but only if conducted within sustainable and legally recognized frameworks.