Liberia: Multinational Stakeholders Review a Payment for Stewardship Project

MONROVIA – Over 50 multinational stakeholders in the forestry and environmental sectors will convene in Monrovia on Tuesday, March 24 to review the implementation of a program rewarding communities for protecting their forests.

 The program, known as Payment for Stewardship, is an incentive-based approach that offers opportunities for forest dependent communities to receive payment for keeping their forest standing.  

The project was launched in 2025 by Integrated Development and Learning (IDL), a Liberian NGO, in collaboration with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), with funding from the Government of Ireland through its International Development Agency or Irish Aid.

Natural resource management practitioners say the “payment for standing forests” strategy has the potential to minimize unsustainable artisanal mining, commercial logging and shifting agriculture in community forests.

According to them, the approach will improve the economic condition of forest dependent communities, inspire biodiversity conservation, and help to restore the cultural identity of approximately one-third of Liberia’s population who depend on forests for their livelihoods, social cultural and traditional practices.

Under the model, over 50,000 hectares of tropical rainforest are currently under improved management system across underserved communities in Wedjah and Jeadea Districts in Sinoe County.

Beneficiaries of the project have already received US$150,000 in cash payment and are applying the funds to their community development priorities.

Additionally, women in the project zones have received cassava processing equipment to add value to cassava products in addition to a donation of motorbikes they received to improve market access.

The event is organized by Partners in Development (PADEV) in coordination with IDL; and its primary focus is to further assess the efficacy of the approach and build on informed feedback from stakeholders to improve and replicate implementation.

Mr. Saah A. David, Jr., of the European Forest Institute and former National REDD+ Coordinator at FDA, who led the independent review of the project, will present the main findings and recommendations on how the model could be strengthened.

Inception statements will be delivered by Madam Gertrude Korvayan Nyaley, FDA’s Deputy Managing Director for Operations and Ambassador Joanna Markbrieter, Deputy Head of Mission and Development Counsellor of the British Embassy in Liberia.