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Forests

Liberia Forest Concession Review: Phase II

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In 2014, the Government of Norway signed a Letter of Intent with the Government of Liberia (GoL) promising US$150 million to support sustainable development that reduces deforestation and forest degradation. As part of the agreement, the GoL is required to complete an independent investigation that examines the legality of existing logging contracts.

The GoL contracted Forest Trends to finalize the independent concession review begun by Sofreco. As outlined by the Forestry Development Authority’s Managing Director, the Liberia Forest Concession Review: Phase II (LFCRII) aims to: take stock and update the findings from previous reviews on the legality of the award of existing logging contracts, their planning and management, and their logging operations; establish a transparent process to share and update these results; and “help to find negotiated solutions for cases that do not call for more serious consequences under Liberian Law.”

The final report of the LFRCRII is divided into two documents:

  1. The main report, which contains:
    • A description of Liberia’s legislative framework with respect to industrial forestry;
    • A status update of Forest Resource Licenses;
    • A review of compliance with the recommendations of previous independent reviews;
    • A compliance review of 11 Forest Resource Licenses; and,
    • Recommendations for Corrective Actions that will prevent the further violation of forestry’s legislative framework.
  2. Volume 2, which contains a detailed compliance review for each License in the scope of the LFCRII review, i.e., the individual “Case Briefs.”

In addition to the final report, the LFRCII has made the background documents publicly available, including links to:

  • Liberia’s legislative framework with respect to forestry, including:
    • Policies, strategies, etc.;
    • Laws; and,
    • Regulations.
  • Dossiers on each of the 11 cases in the scope of the LFRCII review. Each folder contains all the documentary evidence provided by the FDA and Operators, including, for example, Licenses and contracts, performance bonds, planning documents, etc., as available.
  • Previous independent reviews by:
    • Sofreco in 2020;
    • The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative 2013 audit on the allocation process for forestry Licenses; and,
    • The Presidential Special Independent Investigative Body report from 2012 on Private Use Permits (PUPs).
  • A library of other relevant documents collated by the LFCRII.
Concessions Reviewed by LFCRII
Concessions within the Scope of the LFCRII
FMCs
FMC F - Euro Liberia Logging Co
Euro-River-Gee-agreement-minutes.pdf Euro-social-agreement-Grand-Gedeh-1.pdf Euro-social-agreement-River-Gee.pdf LEITI-review-Euro.pdf SOFRECO-review-Euro.pdf USAID-review-Euro.pdf Euro-financials.docx Euro-FMC-1.pdf
Documents shared by Euro Liberia Logging Co
Euro-motion-to-dismiss.pdf Euro-performance-bond-2022.pdf Euro-performance-bond-2023.pdf Euro-sawmill-EPA.pdf Euro-social-agreement-Grand-Gedeh-2016.pdf Euro-social-agreement-Grand-Gedeh-2022.pdf Euro-social-agreement-River-Gee-2015.pdf Euro-social-agreement-River-Gee-2022.pdf Euro-tax-credit-certificate-2017.pdf Euro-tax-credit-certificate-2018.pdf Euro-tax-credit-certificate-2019_1.pdf Euro-tax-credit-certificate-2019_2.pdf Euro-tax-credit-certificate-2022.pdf Euro-FDA-correspondence-2013.pdf Euro-FDA-sawmill-correspondence.pdf FDA-response-letter.pdf Force-majeure-letter-2017.pdf Force-majeure-letter-Dec-2015.pdf Force-majeure-letter-Oct-2015.pdf Land-rental-letter.pdf Sawmill-EPA-review-letter.pdf Sawmill-letter.pdf Bid-premium-suspension-act.pdf Bid-premiums-letter-2020.pdf Bid-premiums-letter-2021.pdf CFDC-cash-receipt-Dec-2022.jpg CFDC-cash-receipt-Feb-2023_1.jpg CFDC-cash-receipt-Feb-2023_2.jpg CFDC-cash-receipt-Jan-2023_1.jpg CFDC-cash-receipt-Jan-2023_2.jpg CFDC-cash-receipt-Jan-2023_3.jpg CFDC-deposit-receipt-Dec-2022_1.jpg CFDC-deposit-receipt-Dec-2022_2.jpg CFDC-deposit-receipt-Sep-Oct-2022.jpg CFDC-payment-request-Jan-2023.jpg CFDC-payment-request-Oct-2022.pdf CFDC-payment-request-Sep-2022.pdf Euro-authorization-request.pdf Euro-CFDC-accounting.xlsx Euro-EAR.pdf Euro-EPA-2014.pdf Euro-EPA-2017.pdf Euro-EPA-2021.pdf Euro-EPA-attestation-letter.pdf Euro-follow-up-request.pdf Euro-FT-dossier-response.pdf Euro-harvest-certificate-2014-15.pdf Euro-harvest-certificate-2015-16.pdf Euro-harvest-certificate-2018-19_1.pdf Euro-harvest-certificate-2018-19_2.pdf Euro-harvest-certificate-2019-20.pdf Euro-labor-survey-Q1-2023.pdf Euro-ledger.xlsx PWC-ELL-letter-for-deduction-LRA-acknowledged-copy.pdf PWC-letter-for-ELL.pdf
CFMAs
Source of Contracts
Volume 2 – Case Briefs
Library of Documents