Early in 2008, industrial logging will restart in Liberia. As Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), I am pleased to see the progress that has been made to institute the reforms needed to ensure that logging no longer contributes to conflict in Liberia, and in fact contributes to the sustainable management of the country’s natural resources. In this new era of hope in Liberia, the FDA will insist that investors honor the new laws and regulations that have been developed from this reform so that together we can help play a positive role
in the redevelopment of a country that has suffered too long from war. We have produced this briefing document to explain why the reforms were necessary and how logging will be conducted under our new law and regulations that govern the management of Liberia’s forests. We are pleased with the progress that has been made since 2006 when the Government of Liberia passed a reformed Forestry Law that forms the backbone of a new legal framework for logging. Since then, the FDA has adopted new international standards of logging to increase accountability and transparency in the sector, including requirements for chain of custody timber tracking, and forest management plans.