Monrovia — Forest Incomes for Environmental Sustainability (FIFES), a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded activity, and the Community Forest Management Bodies (CFMB) in Nimba and Grand Bassa counties recently signed a term of reference, which led to the transfer of three motorcycles to help with the monitoring of community forest activities.
In support of USAID/Liberia’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy, FIFES’s overall goal is to help rural farmers and forest-dependent communities develop forest-based enterprises in ways that reduce threats to biodiversity and combat deforestation, forest degradation, and biodiversity loss.
To accomplish its goal, FIFES aims to increase inclusive, sustainable economic opportunities for the local community forest stakeholders, while building the capacity of local institutions to effectively implement national policies, promote better forest management, and integrate gender equity and youth opportunities within the 11 community forests in Nimba and Grand Bassa counties.
FIFES supports four community forest governance and management structures in Northern Nimba County (Sanniquellie area), five in Southern Nimba County (Tappita area), and two in Grand Bassa County (Buchanan area), for a total of 11 community forests.
Each of the three CFMB hubs received one motorcycle, valued at USD 3,000, and signed a term of reference allowing each hub to conduct a set of activities, including awareness building, biomonitoring, Women Owning Resources Together (WORTH), and enterprise group (EG) activities within their community forests. The motorcycles will provide a more efficient means of transportation for members of the CFMB to monitor and supervise activities within the forest.
According to Maria Jose Perdomo, FIFES’s project coordinator based in Washington, D.C., who recently facilitated the handover of the motorcycles during a training activity organized by her team, “It is FIFES’s way of ensuring the CFMBs work to sustainably manage their forest.”
For his part, Oldpa Peters, chief officer of the Barconnie CFMB in Grand Bassa, said they are thankful to FIFES for not only the trainings conducted, but also for the motorcycles, tool kits, and helmets they received.