The document summarizes a collaboration between Conservation International and the Government of Liberia to promote sustainable development through sound environmental management and conservation of natural resources. It outlines opportunities for Liberia to increase its resilience to climate change, attract investment, and become a regional leader in conservation by managing its forests and biodiversity. Key points discussed include establishing protected areas, engaging local communities, developing policies and institutions, and attracting funding through carbon markets and other mechanisms to support these conservation and development efforts.

1. Conservation International and the Government of Liberia Collaboration for a new development pathway

2. Liberia: a shining light for west Africa and the world Transition from terrible conflict to “ready for development” Conservation International and Liberia: partners for 8 years The opportunity is now

3. Opportunity for what? Development based on good management of natural systems Management for ecosystem service provision: water erosion protection, climate change buffering Maybe ecotourism Development will be difficult or impossible without this

4. How far have we got? We know what the natural forest asset base consists of: carbon volume biodiversity distribution management principles We are working on getting more people involved in this as a business opportunity Liberia is the most important country in the Guinean Forest Hotspot, containing about 43% of all remaining forest, and most of the interesting biodiversity

6. The government has shown great foresight in developing the institutions, policy and oversight tools Forest Development Authority Environmental Protection Agency National Forest Policy Accession to Convention on Biodiversity and Kyoto National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan Protected area strategy and draft management plan

8. What are the opportunities? “Position Liberia as the regional and global leader in conservation of biodiversity and development based on sound environmental management” Impacts Higher international profile Increased resilience to climate change Increased investment in natural resource management through Carbon funding and biodiversity conservation Improved mechanisms for engaging local communities in natural resource management, improving democracy and governance

9. Regional and global profile Madagascar as an example Since 2003, Madagascar has based its development strategy on sound environ- mental management, including the tripling of the national protected area network A trust fund for management of these areas has now passed 50M USD in capitalization Most new protected areas are community- co-managed A very high profile on the international stage Great opportunity for transboundary World Heritage Sites Everyone is on Liberia’s side!

10. Probable result: Increased human pressure leading to natural resource conflicts. Rainfall in the Sahel will likely be drastically reduced  population migration southwards towards less affected areas such as Liberia. Sea-level rise as much as 5 meters (due to ice melting) over the next century is major issue.  Predicted inland migration from coastal communities. Increase resilience to climate change

11. How to manage this situation? Reinforce civil society participation in natural resource management, as a business and development opportunity Invest in conserving the asset base, to ensure continued yield Promote good governance through investment in capacity Engage regionally to demonstrate leadership and foresight

12. Liberia’s historic deforestation rate of 0.2-0.4 % per year has been low, but this won’t last This deforestation accounts for over 900,000 to 1.8M tCO2 emissions annually (forest to non-forest) Process for engagement in carbon markets started Potential for investment from climate change mitigation

13. Potential carbon mitigation yield $700,000 - $1,400,000 per year Conservative gross carbon revenue $5 - $10 / tCO2 Conservative carbon price estimate 0.019 % per year Assume 50% reduction in PA network deforestation rate 73 % closed canopy forest (Omits regrowth and degradation) Percent closed canopy forest in proposed PA network 900 tons CO2 per hectare (stored in forest biomass) Comparable tons CO2/hectare (Winrock Aug 2004 Guinea report) 0.038 % per year within the PAN only Conservative historical deforestation rate (1986-2000 forest to non-forest) 1.14 million hectares Initial proposed protected area network

14. Community management of natural resources Essential to promote democracy, reduce social instability, promote equity and transparency Considerable challenges in post-conflict areas, but; Investment mechanisms are the key, seeding money into communities at the appropriate scale and volume

15. In order to build development on sound environmental management, what have we learned from elsewhere ? Technical resources: community management of forest; consultation plan for new protected areas, investment in community structures; biodiversity management Policy resources: land tenure, forest resource management rules, investment mechanisms

16. Further investment: (in addition to good access to health care, infrastructure, markets and education) steady long-term and flexible revenue streams to enable communities to rebuild their social structures and start the development process for themselves Secure long-term financing to cover recurrent costs of managing the protected areas network, to sustain biodiversity against impacts of climate change Above all, strong civil society structures supported and capacitated by government and partners Investment: so far, USAID and World Bank, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Fauna and Flora International, Conservation International, other development partners

17. New investment opportunities European Union: are expressing strong interest in regional program World Bank- Forest Carbon Partnership Facility- proposal submitted US Government- Matches to HIPIC debt restructuring French, German and UK governments- protected areas and civil society Corporates for carbon investment Debt swap opportunities – capital funds, high profile projects Diaspora- civil society structures and carbon offsets US Foundations- capacity building for conservation and development

18. Conclusions People need secure access to natural resources for development Those natural resources are assets that will provide great yields, if managed wisely Many of these asset values are only now becoming clear The market is fast-moving and complex Liberia has the opportunity to become a great regional and global leader Conservation International will do whatever we can to help