Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About Time Africa Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » Column » If illegal logging starts again, Liberia could lose more than its beloved pygmy hippos | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

If illegal logging starts again, Liberia could lose more than its beloved pygmy hippos | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

About 270,000 people died in Liberia’s timber trade-fuelled civil war. I helped to rebuild and protect its forests. Now Europe is threatening to undermine all our hard work

May 14, 2025
in Column, Featured
0
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia and first elected female head of state in Africa, stands for a portrait on World Malaria Day in Washington, D.C. Sirleaf, now a leader for global health issues, jokes that this is an "Angela Merkel" pose.
Shuran Huang/For NPR

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia and first elected female head of state in Africa, stands for a portrait on World Malaria Day in Washington, D.C. Sirleaf, now a leader for global health issues, jokes that this is an "Angela Merkel" pose. Shuran Huang/For NPR

541
SHARES
4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ReadAlso

Death toll after floods submerge Nigeria town rises to 151 as thousands displaced

Ten dead in ‘brutal’ attacks by Isis-linked militants on Mozambique wildlife reserve

It is sad when a ruthless military dictator funds his government by destroying ecologically important rainforest, logging tropical trees and displacing and robbing the people who live in and depend on the forests for their livelihoods and culture.

This happened in my country, Liberia.

When, in 2005, I became the country’s first president to be elected after a devastating civil war that deposed that dictator, I was charged with helping Liberia recover.

Liberia has more than half of west Africa’s remaining forests, which cover almost half of the country, approximately 6.6m hectares (16m acres) based on the 2019 National Forest Inventory. But our special trees have long been threatened because the timber fetches premium prices.

At the end of the war, we found that about 60% of our country had been allocated in 28 logging “concessions” – agreements with companies providing exclusive rights to log the forests.

My government cancelled all of these concessions and implemented a moratorium to better understand what we were harvesting and where it came from. We lifted the moratorium after we introduced a transparent process to allocate new logging and other land-use concessions.

In 2006, we secured passage of the National Forestry Reform Law, which recognised the problems of the past and stressed the integration of community, conservation and commercial forest management for the benefit of all Liberians. 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. With this transparency, the timber market can steer clear of anything harvested illegally – from protected areas, endangered trees or community lands without consent.

Timber exports accounted for 7.5% of Liberia’s GDP in 2020, much of it shipped to Chinese markets. EU log imports from Liberia were $2m in 2020, one-seventh of that sold to China. It is important to diversify our reliance on this one market to help generate a more sustainable future for the sector, and greater access to European markets is essential to achieving this ambition.

The system Liberia uses to track timber production was developed after we signed the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU. The VPA was an important signal that Liberia was serious about gaining control over logging, and that the EU recognised these positive developments. Commendably, transparency in sourcing is required of all timber produced under a VPA, including for export to EU markets.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on her farm in Bomi county, Liberia in 2017. Photograph: Monique Jaques/The Observer

This agreement was one of the first critical steps implemented by my government. Forest sector oversight and increasing the credibility of timber exports, including for European markets, has been crucial in Liberia’s recovery.

But the mood today is to retreat from international commitments and cooperation. The EU has moved to cancel this agreement, threatening a key segment of our economy. And without recognition in markets that give importance to compliance with our regulations, we are worried that the illegal timber trade will once again take root in our country.

We risk the disintegration of the system that has supported forest sector oversight, one that established a unique benefit-sharing mechanism for local people, resulting in $4.3m going to communities already, with additional revenues to come that are tracked through Liberia’s systems, set up through the VPA.

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 at risk any governance reforms.

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.

Grebo-Krahn is home to pygmy hippos, a critically endangered species that became popular recently on social media when two zoos posted images of pygmy hippo calves. There are only 2,000 of them left in the wild, most of them in Liberia.

We worry what will become of this species, along with other endangered wildlife.

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.

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.

  • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the 24th president of Liberia, was the first elected female head of state in Africa. She won the Nobel peace prize in 2011

ADVERTISEMENT
Tags: AfricadeforestationGlobal developmentLiberiaOpinionTrees and Forests
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Why the ant-smuggling trade is booming – and why we should care

Next Post

Microsoft shuts down Skype

You MayAlso Like

Column

Nigeria’s Minister of Information: After Aid Cuts in Africa, Only Markets Can Deliver

June 6, 2025
Column

The Young Putin Ally Winning Hearts Across Africa: Who Is Ibrahim Traoré?

June 6, 2025
Column

How Trump’s first buddy Elon Musk became enemy number one

June 6, 2025
Featured

As Africa opens a climate summit, poor weather forecasting keeps the continent underprepared

June 4, 2025
Column

As the war drums beat, NATO’s leaders have one big problem

June 5, 2025
Elon Musk Reveals He Struggles With 'Demons Of The Mind' And Questioned His Existence
Column

On the Campaign Trail, Elon Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama

May 31, 2025
Next Post

Microsoft shuts down Skype

A nurse with patients at a hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, on April 24. Nearly 18 percent of adults in Kisumu have HIV — about four times the national average of 4.5 percent. (Michel Lunanga/Getty Images)

After 100 days, the toll of Trump’s foreign aid cuts has begun to sink in

Discussion about this post

Dr. Okorie appointed Member, Advocacy and Public Affairs Team of South East Business Investment Summit

Absence of Prosecution Team Stalls Proceeding on Alleged Terrorism Case at Asaba Federal High Court 

Anambra 2025: INEC Releases Final List of Qualified Candidates

EFCC Hands over Forfeited Properties of Chimaroke Nnamani

Leaked medical report ‘proves Imane Khelif is biological male’

Trump announces full travel ban on swathe of African nations, others

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1236 shares
    Share 494 Tweet 309
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1063 shares
    Share 425 Tweet 266
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    964 shares
    Share 386 Tweet 241
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    900 shares
    Share 360 Tweet 225
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    734 shares
    Share 294 Tweet 184
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0

SQMs Urged to Ensure Quality Healthcare for DSCHC Enrollees

June 6, 2025

Nigeria’s Minister of Information: After Aid Cuts in Africa, Only Markets Can Deliver

June 6, 2025

The Young Putin Ally Winning Hearts Across Africa: Who Is Ibrahim Traoré?

June 6, 2025

African Leaders Unite in Bold Drive to Fight Cholera

June 6, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIME AFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIME AFRICA biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About Time Africa Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.