Liberia
FPP has been working in Liberia since 2012, supporting civil society and local communities to advocate for their land and customary rights. Communities currently face threats from protected areas being forcibly created on their lands, as well as palm oil projects that are destroying vast swathes of their forests.
Liberia is home to at least 50% of the remaining West African Upper Guinean forest, making it critically important to conservation interests in the region. Further to five existing protected areas, Libera has proposed 11 more, all of which overlap with customary-owned lands. If landowner rights are not protected, this could create large-scale conflicts with the potential to undermine conservation efforts in the region.
New palm oil projects also threaten to clear up to 1,000,000 hectares of forests that are vital to local communities’ livelihoods. Despite new RSPO standards that require companies to develop Standard Operating Procedures for Free, Prior and Informed Consent, this has yet to translate into FPIC compliance and practice is still far behind policy.
In Liberia, FPP’s work focuses on three main areas: Customary tenure and land rights, exclusionary conservation, and oil palm projects.
Alongside our partners, we work to:
- Increase local communities’ awareness of their rights
- Support communities in defending their right to land
- Provide legal support and training
- Support community conservation models
Our current work is focused on:
- Supporting monitoring efforts of SOP FPIC commitments for oil palm companies
- Providing legal support to make multiple revisions of the Land Rights Bill
- Helping conservation affected communities to defend and sustain their rights
