The European Union (EU) and Liberia signed an agreement Monday to stop illegal logging, according to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Liberia has developed a comprehensive definition of legal timber that embraces all aspects of timber production, including allocation of harvesting rights, the sharing of benefits, worker rights and taxation. The agreement will take effect March 2013.
The European Union (EU) and Liberia signed an agreement Monday to stop illegal logging, according to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Liberia has developed a comprehensive definition of legal timber that embraces all aspects of timber production, including allocation of harvesting rights, the sharing of benefits, worker rights and taxation. The agreement will take effect March 2013.
"This historic agreement is a stepping stone for a new, stronger Liberia, built on principles of good governance, transparency, and rule of law," said Dr. Florence Chenoweth, Liberia's minister of agriculture. "In the past, Liberia's natural resources have been used to drive conflict and greed that benefited few and destroyed many lives. Now it is clear that we are committed to ensuring the gifts from our forests will benefit all Liberians now and in the future."
The agreement aims to curb illegal logging that became rampant during the country's civil wars from 1989 to 2003. The rise in illegal logging led to the EU imposing a ban on Liberian timber in 2003. As a result of government reforms, the ban was lifted in 2006, but the country's commercial timber industry has struggled to rebound. EFI noted that 45 percent of Liberia-about 4.3 million acres-is covered by tropical forest.
On May 4, the EU and Indonesia signed a similar agreement to combat illegal logging.