Publications

This guide is intended to support communities make an informed and participatory decision about whether or not they want to share their lands and resources with companies or investors. It is meant to help make sure that communities think carefully about if they want to share their lands and resources, and if yes, how to make sure those communities will get a fair deal in return. This guide will help foster peace between a community and company or investor through open and honest discussions.

These posters explain details of Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum Liberia’s concession agreements with the Government of Liberia highlighting key areas of concern related to community rights. The posters are designed to be used as educational resources for communities. They are for educational purposes only; for legal interpretations please refer to the original contracts.

The Government of Liberia has drafted a new land policy that recognizes community ownership rights over their customary lands. The Community Guide to Protecting Community Lands and Resources teaches communities how to go through the process of documenting and protecting their customary lands and natural resources.

This report presents an analysis of lessons learned from the forest sector reform process and includes recommendations for all key players to ensure the implementation of the VPA will contribute to improving good governance in Liberia.

This report compiles evidence from community land titling initiatives in three countries in an effort to address community land protection issues in policy and practice. The report concludes that community land documentation may be a more efficient method of land protection than individual and family titling.

This report details how a quarter of Liberia’s total landmass was granted to logging companies in just two years, following an explosion in the use of often illegal logging permits. A new type of logging contracts, Private Use Permits, give companies unparalleled access to some of Liberia’s most pristine forests. The report uncovers how Private Use Permits are being used by companies to avoid Liberia’s carefully-crafted forest laws and regulations.

In Liberia there is an urgent need for strong legal protections for community lands and natural resources. This report details communities' experiences undertaking land documentation activities and the initial impacts of these efforts on conflict resolution and prevention, intra-community governance and conservation and sustainable natural resource management.

This is a summary of 'So Who Owns the Forest?' which explores issues of property rights and customary land tenure. This report advocates the urgent need for reform which recognises local people's collective entitlement over their customary lands. It offers practical solutions for dealing with land tenure issues for inclusion in national law.

Exploring issues of property rights and customary land tenure, this report advocates the urgent need for reform which recognises local people's collective entitlement over their customary lands. It reviews the treatment of customary land tenure over the century-long process of forming the modern Liberian State and offers practical solutions for dealing with land tenure issues for inclusion in national law.

This report is the first ever forest sector report card for Liberia as part of the Making the Forest Sector Transparent project. It assesses the transparency and accessibility of information in the forest sector with a particular focus on forest governance. It underlines the vital role FDA, civil society and the private sector play in ensuring increased transparency in the sector.