Liberia – Counties of Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, Gbarpolu and Bong 

While oil palm development is at a nascent stage in Western Liberia, conflicts between communities and palm oil companies have occurred over land rights and resource use. The social implications of large-scale land clearance for palm oil are therefore high. The densely forested landscape of Western Liberia also provides habitats for globally important biodiversity, such as the endangered pygmy hippo and a variety of monkey species.  

UNDP, through the Good Growth Partnership has been working concurrently at national and landscape level since 2017 to ensure sustainable production practices that will enable this landscape — which once belted the entire continent — to continue providing social, economic and ecological benefits to the people of Liberia. 

Within the Western Liberia, the Good Growth Partnership focused on the landscape around a palm oil concession encompassing the Counties of Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, Gbarpolu and Bong. 

Among the most important achievements at landscape level, there was the creation of the environment for planning and policy development through strengthening the North Western Oil Palm Landscape Forum. This forum contributes to the work done by the national multistakeholder forum, the National Oil Palm Platform of Liberia by bringing the voices of the county members at national level. It also allowed landscape stakeholders´ active participation in the review and development of the national oil palm strategy and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) processes¹. The forum also contributed to resolving long standing land disputes among community members in the Zodua Clan, and improved coordination among government agencies working in the landscape.  

Moreover more than 5,000 ha of high carbon and conservation value forest have been protected through a Conservation Agreement with three communities (Gohn, Falie and Kanga in the Zodua Clan), with 2,800+ people benefiting from alternative livelihoods and needed social services.  

Learn more about UNDP work through GGP webpage.