FINAL REPORT

ON

THE PARTICIPATORY ESTABLISHMENT

AND

IMPLEMENTATION OF MONTSERRADO COUNTY

FOREST FORUM (MCFF)

SUBMITTED BY:

THE SOCIETY OF LIBERIAN FORESTERS (SOLF)

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. BACKGROUND (OVERVIEW OF THE COUNTY
  3. PURPOSEOF FORMING THE MCFF
  4. ACTIVITIE AND GOALS TO BE ACHIEVED
  5. METHOLOGIES
  6. RESULTS
  7. FINANCIAL STATEMENT
  8. CONCLUSION
  9. RECOMMENDATIONS
  10. APPENDIX

Title: The Participatory Establishment and Implementation of the Montserrado County Forest Forum (MCFF)

  1. INTRODUCTION:

The participatory establishment and implementation of the Montserrado County Forest Forum is intended to strengthen the County Forest Stakeholders’ participation in forest dialogue at county level in support of the National Forest Forum Policy in several ways. In February 2010 the Society of Liberian Foresters (SOLF) signed a letter of Agreement (LoA) with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) FACILITY Representative to Liberia through the Forestry Development Authority. Under the Terms of the LOA, the Recipient Organization, SOLF should submit a final report covering objectives 1 – 3 of the Project.

  1. BACKGROUND (Overview of the County):

Montserrado County is among the first five (5) original counties created after Liberia got her Independence in 1947. She has a population of 906,778 thousand people according to the 2008 National Housing and Population Census.

The county has very little patches of forest cover as a result of shifting cultivation caused by the over crowdedness of the county. This situation is largely due to urban migration of people from rural parts of the country into the county in search of better livelihood. Though the county does not have dense forest, yet there is still some fertile soil available for agricultural purpose.

The formation of the County Forest Forum (CFF) came about as a result of a partnership agreement reached between the management of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and the National Forest Programme(NFP) facility of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This process was based on a concept document prepared and submitted by the Society of Liberian Foresters (SOHF) to the FAO through the FDA. These activities include: Assessment of documentation of forest stakeholders and analysis, creating awareness on the formation of the CFF and the setting up of the CFF in a Participatory manner.

However, the channel for these participatory measures has never been in place. While the Forestry Development Authority was in the process of developing a measure, the National Forestry Program (NFP) of the FAO through FACILITY came in with this “Bottom-to-top” approach which offers the establishment of County Forest Forum. The County Forest Forum leads to the creation of a National Forest Forum where natural resources issues; extraction, benefit sharing and conflict will be addressed.

  1. The PURPOSE and objectives of the Letter of Agreement (LoA))

The Purpose of forming the Montserrado County Forest Forum (MCFF) is to enable forest stakeholders to have a dedicated institution where they will participate in joint decision making or share information regarding the performance of the forest sector. It will also create a framework of governance which is essential in and maintaining the confidence of Liberian Forestry Stakeholders and Institution willing to provide financial, technical or any other support to the forestry sector in the Country.

The objectives of the LoA are as follows;

Specific Objective 1- in consultation with key partners (e.g., FDA, local communities) conducts stakeholder identification and analyses at the chiefdom, district and county level.

Specific Objective 2- Prepare materials for awareness for the County Forest Forum.

Specific Objective 3- Set up and implementation of the County Forest Forum.

Other objectives are:

  1. Sustainable management of the county’s forests and associated resources
  2. Equitable sharing of the benefits and responsibilities
  3. Efficient conflict resolution during forest management and utilization
  1. Objectives and goals to be achieved along with responsibilitiesundertaken:
  1. Stakeholders’ Identification and Analysis:

This exercise was carried out in Todee, Careysburg, St. Paul River Districts; Kollie Town, Dehn Gola Chiefdom and Monrovia Suburbs respectively brought together the Elderly, Youth and Women Groups, Migrant farmer, marginalized, voiceless, hunters, etc.

The main purpose of this activity was to know who the stakeholders were where they are, what they do and the part they play in the management of their forests. The activities undertaken and the results achieved are presented in the matrix below:

Specific Objective # 1: In consultation with Key partners, conduct Stakeholders Identification and analysis at the Chiefdom District and County levels
Activity: Result/Achievement
Consultation with Key Partners / Twelfth meetings were held in 8 communities with the locals and County Authorities, Tribal leaders FDA personnel in the county were met and open discussions were held.
Stakeholder Identification and Analysis / Over 50 stakeholders were identified but grouped under 8 main activities to include farming, timber harvesting, mining, hunting, fishing, petit trading, transport and media
Specific Objective # 2: Prepare materials for awareness on the County Forest Forum
Activity / Results/Achievement
Printing of Banners / Nine (9) banners were printed and placed in nine principal towns in the county( carrying the objectives, date of meeting, venue and participants listing)
Specific Objective # 3: Set up and implementation of the Country Forest forum
Activity / Results/Achievement
Town Hall Meetings / 12 Town hall meetings were held in 7 districts; Objective of Forum was explained. Open forum; full participation of each stakeholder. Men, Women, Youth groups
Election/Induction of Officers / One election was held at the county level. A total of el (11) even officers were elected to steer the County Forum.
Preparation of Constitution and By Laws / MCFF Constitution drafted, vetted and commissioned by the county and FDA
Strategic Plan / A three-year strategic plan is being prepared for the MCFF.
Preparation of Financial Report / A comprehension financial report is prepared and original copies (un-audited) presented to FDA/Liberia

Key Issues Raised :

No. / Key Issues / Stakeholders’ Comments
1 / Shifting Cultivation / The problem of alternative farming method, control of used, adequate supply of fertilizer would reduce farming pressure on the forests
2 / Control of discriminate hunting / Availability of adequate supply of substitute such as meat, fish, etc. Need funds for poultry, fish pond, cattle raising
3 / Land Tenure / What is the authority of a private or communual land owner regarding the utilization of the natural resources (gold, diamond, tree, animal, etc)?

(C) Setting up of the MCFF:

This aspect includes the preparation of a By-Laws and Constitution, Vetting, Election and inclusion of officers and the launching of the forum.

The importance of the establishment of the County Forum:

COMPLIANCE Vs PROGRAMING:

The project involved planned activities and the partial time frame in which they were carried out. We are pleased to report that there was full compliance of all activities such as the conduct of stakeholders identification programmed.

Impact of the project:

The time is yet short to determine the impact of the project. As monitoring process goes on, the short and long term impacts will be realized. From the starting of the project up to the preparation of this report, we wish to note that members of the various communities highly welcome the project.

The If:

In the event the project was not executed, the forests in Montserrado County would continue to be miss-managed.

  1. Methodology (ies)

The bottom to top approach, i.e., getting down to the glasscutters was applied. The marginalized, voiceless, etc, formed a larger proportion of the participants involved in almost all activities conducted. There was also interactive meetings groups’ discussion, etc. Prior to the date of focus meetings and workshops, citations were sent out informing those concerned. Also formal communication was sent out to local authorities requesting their full participation.

Activities related to the setup and implementation of the County Forest Forum includes: rules for participation, structure, institutionalization and standardization.

Planning- a desk study was conducted to gather information on the county and its inhabitants, i.e. there is one statutory district, three administrative districts, one chiefdoms, four clans and the total county population as quoted from the 2008 Census is 906,778- (38,991 males and 51,686 females)

Field Activities

Report writing

  1. Human Resources and Logistics Employees/Partnership

One retired/ pensioned forester

One sociologist (female)

One retired foresters

One retired agriculturist

Partnership and consultations were always made with FDA field personnel, county authorities and traditional leaders.

The results to be realized from the activities undertaken will be summed up as follows:

  • Activities of a full functioning forest forum in the country.
  • Communities are knowledgeable to the management of their forests and forest resources
  • Communities will be committed to the protection of their forests
  1. Participants

The participants of these meetings included a cross-section of people selected from chiefdom, districts, and the suburbs of Monrovia commissioners, paramount and clan chiefs, teachers, civil society groups, etc. These are also direct beneficiaries of this program since indeed they are the forest dwellers whose voices are never heard.

Participants were taken from the following Districts:

1, Kollie Town Chiefdom,

2. Todee District

3 Careysburg District

4. St. Paul River District

5. Monrovia Suburbs

  1. The Human Resources and Logistics:

These inputs utilized in the conduction of the various project activities include:

  1. Human Resources:
  • Project Staff
  • Coordinator
  • Accountant
  • Monitor
  • Local People
  1. Logistics:
  • Transportation
  • Work plan
  • Per-diem
  • Production (typing, photocopy, binding, etc) cost
  • Digital camera (rent)
  • Tape recorder (purchase)
  • Postal sheet
  • Lecture notes

Gender Analysis:

The County Forest Forum (CFF) is all about changes in female behavior in national issues such as their manifold contribution toward sustainable management of the nation’s forest and its resources.

Statistical Breakdown of Gender

Activities / No. of Male / No. of Female / % Male / % Female
Stakeholders Identification / 45 / 20 / 69.2 / 30.7
Awareness Raising Workshop / 84 / 27 / 75.7 / 24.3
Setting of County Forest Forum Forest Forum / 18 / 7 / 72 / 18
Total / 147 / 54

Strategic Action Plan:

  1. Validation of documents (eg. By-Laws and Constitution related to the MCFF which are part of the Letter of Agriculture (LOA)
  1. Bringing together the un-organized groups such as the marginalized, voiceless, minority groups, migrant farmers, women, etc

Sources of Funding:

The MCFF is obviously a property of the county, as such its sustainability, that is, how it will be funded should be a paramount concern of the county citizenry.Some of the ways and means of funding the forum are::

  1. County Development Budget
  2. Income from Forestry Activities within the county such as Chain-Saw Logging, Charcoal Production, Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) harvesting
  3. Production of cash crops (eg. Cassava, coffee, etc).
  4. To solicit or seek assistance and donations from national and international organizations.

Experiences and Challenges/Constraints:

  1. Transportation
  • The conditions of most roads in rural parts of the country are highly passable by motor cars. This unfavorable situation posed problem to reach remote places by motor car except by use of motor bikes which cost of transportation is by far higher compared to motor car.
  • This Last phase of the project was pre-financed by SOLF through funding loaned from a financial lending Club with interest. It is therefore hope that same will be timelyhandled to avoid our organizationfrom running into a legal confrontation with said club.
  1. Feeding

There was no appropriation in the budget for feeding during the focus meeting activities.To be able to successfully carry out this activity, we were compared to use US$260.00 to finance feeding of participants.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

That the Government of Liberia (GOL) thru the FDA puts in place appropriate policy measures to save the remaining forest. Also, the GOL should find livelihood alternative such as bees keeping, rubber farming, vegetable production, Tree crop farming, lowland farming, etc, to the present land-use system to reduce pressure on the forest

We had a very successful program in the county during this first phase. The anxiety of the people impressed us a lot and as a result of this, the Administration of SOLF elected to pre-finance the beginning of the second phase.

The needs for the Present Forest Management Practicesare:

  1. Bees Keeping
  2. Rubber Farming
  3. Tree Crop Farming
  4. Fish Pond
  5. Swamp Land Rice Farming

ANNEXES:

  1. Minutes of meetings of stakeholders identification and analysis
  2. List of awareness workshop Raising Materials
  3. Stakeholders’ Analysis Matrix
  1. Awareness Workshop Program
  2. Stakeholders Focus Meeting Documents
  3. Copies of By-Laws and Constitution, and Organizational Structure
  4. Gender Analysis Chart
  5. List of Participants:

MINUTES:

Summary of the Montserrado County Forest Forum (MCFF) Awareness Raising Workshops

for the Participatory Establishment and Implementation of the MCFF

Venues:Kollie Town, Todee District Chiefdom

:Nyehn Town, Todee District

:Careysburg City, St. Paul River

Time:10:00 am

Facilitators:Mitchell S. Kumbelay

:Daniel F. Fumbah, Sr.

Opening Prayer:Messrs Evangelist John McGill – Kollie Town

:Pastor Joseph Kabba – Nyehn Town

:Elder Sonny Lellen – Careysburg District

:Brother Jusu Morris – Paul River District

Welcome Remarks:Hon. David Johnson

Superintendent, Todee District

:Hon. John S. Flomo

Assistant City Mayor, Careysburg City, Careysgurg District

Highlights of Discussion:

Purpose of the Workshop

Teaching of Workshop Topics

Key Issues Arising from Workshop Discussion

Selection of Representatives to the County Forest Forum (CFF)

Methodology

Adjournment

Closing Prayer

  1. Purpose of the Workshop:

The purposes of the Awareness Raising Workshops were to spread information on the participatory establishment and implementation of the MCFF. Considering that, this activity is a vital and crucial aspect of the survival and sustainability of the CFF, the activities were conducted at Chiefdom, district and county levels in the country.

  1. Teaching of Workshop Topics:

The following workshop topics:

a.Laws

b.Regulations

c.Conflicts

d.Benefit Sharing

e.Sustainable Forest Management;

f.Were presented in an interactive manner followed by questions and answers period; the types and purpose of these topics highlighted the discussion.

  1. Key Issues Arising from Workshop Discussion:

The key issues which occupied the discussion were noted and listed as follow:

  • Land Tenure
  • Shifting Cultivation
  • Discriminate Hunting in Protected Forest Area
  1. Selection of Representative to the County Forest Forum (CFF)

At the close of each workshop session, participants selected the following persons from their District Forest Forum (DFF) to represent them on the County Forest Forum (CFF):

  1. Kollie Town Chiefdom, Todee District:
  1. Morris Barkie,Kollie Town
  2. Samuel Kolleh,Yarkpat Town
  3. Morris PolyZolaitdee Town
  4. Johnny WolfotBuschman Town
  5. Morris D. FlomoKayeme Town
  6. Magaelel Myers Yarkpat Town
  7. Kpannah FahnGbontoe Town
  1. Nyehn Town, Todee District:
  1. Allison NuahZingbor Town
  2. Sylvester SnoweKartoe Town
  3. Joseph KobbaMenigay Town
  4. Kadama KiawuNyehn Town
  5. Francis KarmoNyehn Town
  6. Beatrice MichellZingbor Town
  7. Lucy ZopayeNyehn Town
  8. Vivian QuiahNyehn Town
  1. Careysburg District and Monrovia Suburb:
  1. Sonny B. KellenGola Town
  2. Francis BortioJapen Town
  3. Jortu G. Kellen Gola Town
  4. Joseph Alex Galcalsu Town
  5. Ali M. JohnsonDouble Bridge Community, Paynesville, Liberia
  1. St. Paul River District:
  1. Jusu Morris
  2. Vorney Hosder
  3. Francis Morris
  4. Bendu Kolli

The number of DFF representative on the CFF was based on the size of forest in their respective areas.

Methodology

Prior to the actual date of the Awareness Workshop, the below listed activities were conducted:

  1. Radio announcement
  2. Printing and hosting of banners at meeting site

Adjournment:

The workshop came to close at 4:30 pm with prayer led by Pastor Joseph Kobba.

See annex for attendance.

List of Participants at Kollie TownAwareness Raising Workshop held onJuly 9, 2010

No. Name

  1. Musu Sunday
  2. Moss Kpannah
  3. Femah Pizeh
  4. Kpanna Fahn
  5. Lorpu Kollie
  6. Momo Nyen
  7. Macaler Neter
  8. Mulbab S. Flomo
  9. Nianene Kekula
  10. Bigboy Singbeh
  11. Nathaniel M.Barkie
  12. Charles. Paye
  13. John Kekala
  14. Stephan Cambo
  15. JosephValugbewah
  16. Morris Freeman
  17. Danniel F. Kollie
  18. Samuel S. Kolleh
  19. Moses B. Flomo
  20. MorrisPolu
  21. JohnMegill
  22. J. MorrisZolubakie
  23. Johnny Woltoe
  24. Mark Pizeh
  25. Henry G. Kiag

List of Awareness Raising Workshop Persons atNyehn, Town Hall, Todee District held onJuly 10, 2010

No. Name

  1. Virian Quiah
  2. Beatrice Mitchell
  3. J. Emmet Garger
  4. Lucy Zoe-Paye
  5. Oretha Boltie
  6. Peter Ricks
  7. Miatta Gilley
  8. Sobondo Rufus
  9. Raphus Gbesseh
  10. Botoe Morris
  11. Gbajah Dahn
  12. JosephRabbah
  13. Allison Nuah
  14. AdamaKiawu
  15. Francis Karmo
  16. Miatta Momo
  17. Nancy Jessen
  18. Sylvesta Snowe
  19. David Johnson
  20. John Rufus
  21. Moses Kolleh
  22. JosephMomo
  23. Henry Page
  24. LorpuDavid
  25. MusaPizeh

List of Participant at the Careysburg Town Hall,Awareness Raising Workshop), hosted by SOLFJuly 13, 2010

No. Name

  1. Daniel Gray
  2. Bendu Gray
  3. Jastu Kelley
  4. Edward Urey
  5. Ali M. Johnson
  6. Prinet Daniel
  7. Joseph Alex
  8. Peter Walker
  9. Francis Bontio
  10. Sonny B Kellen
  11. Junior Jabateh
  12. Jelma Knuckles
  13. Morris Sackio
  14. Moses Bartoe
  15. Ivan Poorpa
  16. Esther Flomo
  17. John Togbah
  18. Henry Garmole
  19. John Kolkie
  20. Joe Yango
  21. Hawa Yango
  22. John Gardiner
  23. Martha Sackie
  24. James Musa
  25. John Fallah

List of Participants at St. Paul River District, held onJuly 30, 2010, at Gongbah Town