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New illegal logging threatens Liberia’s forests amid vague ban

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MONROVIA — Chainsaw-milled timber is emerging as a damaging new form of illegal logging in Liberia. Chainsaw milling is legally permitted only for small-scale production of boards for the country’s domestic market, but larger operators may be using it as a means to evade regulations governing the sourcing and tracing of wood, and to avoid paying royalties to communities. Liberia has the largest intact forests in West Africa, a reservoir for biodiversity and a vital resource for the people who live in them. During the long civil war that began in the 1990s, armed factions indiscriminately felled large areas for valuable timber to pay their fighters and enrich their leaders. Establishing effective regulation of the timber industry was an important part of the peace process negotiated in the mid-2000s. In the postwar period, Liberia set up a system meant to ensure that wood is sustainably harvested only from licensed concessions, and volumes of timber are properly accounted for to ensure the state and local communities get their share of the taxes and royalties. The time, place, and date of every tree harvested commercially is meant be recorded in the LiberTrace tracking system. Raw, round logs are exported to foreign markets, mainly to European Union countries, China and Vietnam. Chainsaw milling is an exception. Currently, small-scale operators are allowed to reach informal agreements with local communities to fell trees and cut them into boards. The timber they produce is solely for sale in Liberia’s domestic markets and meant to be no…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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