With support from international partners, local and national stakeholders within the forestry sector of Liberia are meeting in Liberia’s northeastern city of Ganta, Nimba County to discuss pertinent issues surrounding benefit sharing, including revenues generated from loggings among others.
Madam Nora G. Bowier, Board Chairman of the National Benefit Sharing Trust (NBST), said the NBST in collaboration with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is leading efforts for the successful hosting of the first National Forest Forum, according to a press release issued in Monrovia on Wednesday, November 11, 2020.
Participants drawn from public and private sectors, donor community and civil society organizations.
Some forest stakeholders
The three-day conference, which began with a field trip on the 10th, takes place from the 11th to 13th of November 2020.
The Chair of the Board further maintained that the goal of the NFF is to offer an analysis of current benefit sharing mechanisms as well as revenues generated from forestry activities by the Government of Liberia, and providing a comprehensive overview into operational benefit mechanisms across the country.
The Ganta Forum will allow local and national stakeholders to evaluate, analyse and assess the National Benefit Sharing Trust mechanism and provide an opportunity to discuss policies and legal frameworks of the NBST mechanism.
At the end of stakeholder engagement, participants will learn from experiences around benefit sharing from other sectors, including mining, and oil palm, that can enhance current processes in the forest sector, and identify best practices and strategies in addressing challenges, the press release added.