Congo City – Liberia’s Civil Society has joined a continent-wide motion geared toward inserting indigenous peoples and native communities on the forefront of conservation and local weather motion with the launch of the Liberia Chapter of the Alliance for Indigenous Peoples and Native Communities for Conservation in Africa (AICA).
By Jaheim T. [email protected]
The occasion, attended by not less than 50 stakeholders, together with authorities companies, conservation NGOs, grassroots organizations, neighborhood forest leaders and ladies teams, marks a milestone for Liberia’s civil society.
The nationwide community gives indigenous peoples and native communities (IPLCs) in Liberia with a structured voice inside AICA’s continental framework, shifting from mere participation to formal institution and from inspiration to motion.
Pope-Kai: ‘Nature Is Us and We Are Nature’
Through the launch, Loretta Pope-Kai, Chairperson of the Nationwide Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL), emphasised that the motion represents greater than only a symbolic unveiling.
“This launch is the start of a journey the place indigenous individuals and native communities like yours will stand on the heart of conservation actions, decision-making, and management,” Pope-Kai declared.
She identified that whereas Liberia’s legal guidelines acknowledge three pillars—neighborhood, industrial, and conservation—the industrial forestry sector has failed to profit native communities. She argued {that a} people-centered and rights-based strategy to conservation gives a extra sustainable path.
“Nobody can shield our forests and our land higher than us—the individuals from the neighborhood who stay in and work within the forest. Nature is us, and we’re nature. We should make sure that we coexist with nature,” she said.
Pope-Kai highlighted that the Liberia AICA Community would make sure that girls, youth, and communities are usually not solely concerned however are additionally positioned as decision-makers.
She acknowledged native civil society teams reminiscent of SESDev, the Basis for Neighborhood Initiatives, Champions for Change, Inexperienced Panorama Initiative, the Society for Conservation of Nature of Liberia, and Liberia Forest Media Watch as proof that Liberian civil society is able to take possession of the conservation agenda.
From Native to Continental Voice
Liberian CSOs, led by Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Growth (SESDev), have been a part of AICA’s journey since its inception in Kigali. SESDev head Mina was nominated as a West African consultant on AICA’s Govt Committee after the 2022 governance evaluate assembly in Maputo.
Nonetheless, Wednesday’s occasion marked the formal nationwide institution of Liberia’s AICA community, aligning the nation’s conservation agenda with continental frameworks such because the Kigali Name to Motion, the APAC Declaration, and the Namibia Communiqué.
With this launch, Liberia now has a stronger collective platform feeding into the West Africa regional AICA community, making certain its forest communities play a decisive function in shaping the way forward for conservation throughout the continent.
Pope-Kai captured the essence of the launch with the slogan “A New Chapter for Individuals and Nature,” stating, “This community belongs to you. Your voices, your management, and your actions will outline its success. Let right now mark the beginning of a brand new chapter the place indigenous individuals and native communities in Liberia not solely shield nature but in addition form the way forward for conservation in Africa.”
Langa: ‘Why Defend Forests from Individuals When We Are A part of the Forest?’
Within the keynote tackle, Malidadi Langa, Chairman of AICA, recommended Liberia for establishing considered one of Africa’s most progressive land and forest authorized frameworks, which permits indigenous and native communities to self-organize and affect conservation coverage.
“As somebody aware of the conservation panorama throughout Africa, I can say this isn’t the case in all places. My honest congratulations to the Authorities of Liberia for offering the enabling framework that has allowed us to satisfy right now and have a good time this launch,” Langa stated.
Nonetheless, his remarks prolonged past mere reward. Langa challenged Africa to confront the painful historical past of conservation that has displaced individuals from their ancestral lands throughout each the colonial and post-independence eras.
“There was militarization of conservation, entry denied, and draconian legal guidelines that separate our individuals from their forests. These forests are usually not simply sources; they’re our pharmacy for medication, our grocery store for meals, and our very lives,” he famous.
Calling typical conservation an “Aryan idea” imposed from outdoors, he questioned why forests are sometimes protected against native individuals as an alternative of recognizing them as custodians.
“Why are we defending forests from individuals when, in truth, we’re a part of the forest?” he requested.
Langa additionally cautioned towards foreign-driven conservation fashions: “He who pays the piper calls the tune. If donor pursuits diverge from neighborhood wants, conservation outcomes danger changing into unsustainable.”
On the core of his message was a name for securing land and pure useful resource rights for IPLCs. He urged the total implementation of Liberia’s land legal guidelines, larger respect for the precept of Free, Prior, and Knowledgeable Consent (FPIC), and the formal recognition of community-conserved areas as integral to nationwide and continental conservation frameworks.
The AICA Liberia Communiqué
Studying the Communiqué for adoption, Matthias Larbeindee, Forest Hour Coordinator of the Liberia Forest Media Watch (LFMW), emphasised the transformative potential of the initiative. The doc outlines a complete framework geared toward securing the rights, data, and management of native communities throughout Liberia.
Central to this framework is the safety of collective land rights and the formal recognition of Neighborhood Conserved Areas (CCAs), underpinned by strict adherence to Free, Prior, and Knowledgeable Consent (FPIC). These measures make sure that communities retain company over choices that impression their lands and sources, a essential step in empowering native stewardship.
The communiqué emphasizes the significance of data and management inside indigenous communities. It outlines plans to doc conventional ecological data, present mentoring alternatives for youth and ladies, and strengthen the authority of customary leaders, making certain that native governance techniques are empowered and revered.
Fairness and inclusion are additionally highlighted, with particular mechanisms proposed to deal with human-wildlife conflicts and to ensure that benefit-sharing inside communities is gender-responsive and truthful.
Local weather and biodiversity resilience are central to AICA Liberia’s imaginative and prescient, linking neighborhood stewardship efforts on to nationwide biodiversity safety and local weather adaptation methods. Collaboration and solidarity are promoted by the creation of platforms for multi-stakeholder dialogue, alternatives for regional exchanges, and coordinated advocacy initiatives, fostering a spirit of unity and shared goal amongst communities and companions.
The communiqué additional commits to participatory monitoring and studying, with communities actively concerned in monitoring progress and the publication of annual experiences to make sure transparency and accountability. As well as, it acknowledges the facility of narrative change, pledging to work with media companions to amplify neighborhood tales and have a good time cultural heritage as important instruments for conservation.
To operationalize these ambitions, the communiqué mandated the formation of an AICA Liberia Coordination Workforce and a Useful resource Mobilization Taskforce. It additionally referred to as for the institution of a Neighborhood Grievance Redress Platform, designed to deal with each historic and future rights issues, making certain that communities have a proper mechanism to resolve conflicts and assert their rights.
The communiqué additionally mandated the formation of an AICA Liberia Coordination Workforce, a Useful resource Mobilization Taskforce, and the creation of a Neighborhood Grievance Redress Platform to deal with each historic and future rights issues.
