An official document obtained by The Associated Press alleges that Liberia’s lush West African rainforests are being cut down and illegally exported with the likely involvement of powerful government officials. The report suggests the existence of a “parallel system” for the timber trade, involving the country’s chief timber official, Mike Doryen. Over the last three years, independent international monitors have compiled a series of reports that reveal a network of illicit sawmills, off-the-books exports, and payments made to the Liberian forestry agency that were not deposited in official accounts. This could amount to a shadow system for the timber trade.
The report lists 39 cases where the monitors found evidence of lawbreaking or governance failure and no action was taken to address any of them. The document reveals that Doryen runs his own “special task force” to bypass personnel stationed at checkpoints, whose role is to prevent logging of the virgin rainforest.
The UK Foreign Office sent the report to Liberian ministers in September, and it was later passed on to the country’s president. It describes the collusion of individuals at the forestry agency, the National Port Authority, and Customs. The UK diplomats warned that up to 70% of Liberia’s timber exports may bypass the official tracking system, potentially resulting in the loss of large sums in revenue.
Liberia is West Africa’s most forested country, with a rich habitat for endangered species such as chimpanzees and forest elephants. Jonathan Yiah, who directs the forest governance program at the Liberian nonprofit Sustainable Development Institute, called it “a breakdown of the rule of law in the forest sector” and confirmed the existence of a shadow system for forest exports in the country.
In response to criticisms, Doryen disputed the notion that no action has been taken. He stated that he ordered all sawmills to be registered and all revenue to be deposited in proper accounts. He denied the existence of a parallel logging system, although he did concede that one existed before he took office.
A letter signed by Doryen had given permission to export the logs outside Liberia’s official log-tracking system. However, when a load of cut trees that had purportedly been lying abandoned for six years was offered to Magna Logging Corporation, the logs turned out to be “fresh.” Concerned, the CEO notified the Swiss certification agency that is supposed to verify the legality of Liberian exports, SGS. A letter signed by Doryen had given permission to export the logs outside Liberia’s official log-tracking system.
Despite mounting accusations of systemic wrongdoing and at least 18 months of diplomatic pressure from the UK, US, EU, and Norway to clean up the Liberian forest agency, Doryen remains in his post, with President George Weah refusing to remove him. Pressure is mounting, however. At a meeting in Monrovia focused on the country’s forests and sponsored by the World Bank, the EU Ambassador called deforestation levels in Liberia “rather dramatic.”
One case outlined in the report describes a load of illegally-felled trees that was flagged at a checkpoint on its way to the Gambia in January 2022. The driver had receipts showing fees had been paid to the Liberia forest agency, but the money was not deposited in official accounts. Police confiscated the logs and took them to a police station, but they disappeared from the station a few days later, and authorities took no action.
Forest advocate Jonathan Yiah called on President Weah to launch a full investigation, as the uncontrolled cutting of the forest hurts local communities who depend on it for food.
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