Keeping the Promise: Expanding and Strengthening Community Land and Forest Governance for a Sustainable Future.
Ongoing
From:
01/02/2023
To:
01/02/2026
Budget:
$3,600,000
Partners:
Parley Liberia
Associates:
Liberia Land Authority
Stakeholders:
24 CLDMCs, 24 communities
15 new communities will be supported to complete the CLF process
Ownership of Customary Land in Liberia has been in dispute over the years. Land ownership has been a major source of contention between the Government of Liberia and local communities on the one hand, and a source of conflict between communities and multinationals on the other. Local Communities and their civil society allies have persistently challenged government’s claim of ownership of all land that is neither private nor titled to individuals or families, and resisted allocation of those lands to oil palm companies, for example. The Land Rights Policy of 2013 and the Land Rights Act of 2018 have clarified the situation and provided a pathway for Local Communities to secure their ownership and control of their Customary Land.
To read a brief overview of Liberia, click here.
For a timeline of land and forest rights in Liberia, click here.
Project Overview
This project will support 24 communities that have completed the first stages of the Customary Land Formalization (CLF) process to complete Confirmatory Surveys and acquire collective titles to their land; the final stages of the CLF process. Fifteen (15) new/ additional communities will be supported to complete the first stage of CLF process as well. Completing the CLF will clarify, secure and strengthen the collective land and forest tenure rights of the 39 project communities and increase the total land area under collective community ownership and control. Broadly, communities across Libera are expressing strong interests and desire to formalise ownership and acquire title to their Customary Land.
Goal
To increase land area under collective community ownership and improve land and forest governance in communities that have formalised their customary collective land rights by resolving land conflicts, promoting gender inclusion and equality, and promoting sustainable land investment.
Objectives
- Project-targeted communities have clear and secure tenure of their Customary Land as a basis for attracting responsible investment
- Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMCs) comply with the Land Rights Act and their by-laws in managing community land in an inclusive, transparent, and accountable manner, promote gender equality and sustainable natural resource management, and coordinate effectively with the County Land administration
- Project partners have improved project monitoring and result reporting and financial management systems, processes, and knowledge development.
Actions
- Facilitation support to communities to complete the CLF process in full, including Confirmatory Survey and PLUP technical assistance and training
- Local government officials, and other key stakeholders to enable all of them to perform their complementary roles and responsibilities in the community land and forest governance process
- Capacity building of project partners on project monitoring, result reporting and financial management systems, processes, and knowledge development.
Expected impact
By the end of the project, the land area under secured communities’ ownership and control would have been increased by an estimated 100,000 hectares or 17%. Approximately 160,000 people will benefit from the project through guaranteed access to land and security of tenure.
Loretta Pope
Executive Director
Foundation for Community Initiative (FCI)
Foundation for Community Initiative (FCI)
