{"id":5907,"date":"2025-03-05T15:01:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T15:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/?p=5907"},"modified":"2025-03-05T18:55:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T18:55:45","slug":"nimba-locals-embark-on-ecotourism-commit-to-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2025\/03\/05\/nimba-locals-embark-on-ecotourism-commit-to-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Nimba Locals Embark on Ecotourism, Commit to Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Top: The Zor Community Forest covers 1,140 hectares. The DayLight\/Franklin K. Nehyalor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Franklin K. Nehyalor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ZOR, Nimba County \u2013 Local leaders in a northeastern community seek more support to conserve their forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zor Community Forest in Zor Chiefdom in the Gbehlay-Geh District of Nimba County has support from ArcelorMittal Liberia and NGOs. With the support, Zor, a conservation forest, has established cocoa and oil palm farms, recruited forest guards, and conducted training for community members. The community has also provided loans locals have invested to purchase a rice mill and cassava-processing machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Zor needs more to develop its ecotourism to continue to protect its forest resources.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need technical and financial incentives to better preserve our forest and make our community a place of attraction for investors and businesses,\u201d says Robert Mahn, Zor\u2019s executive committee chairman. \u201cBut for this to happen, we need constant monthly salary for forest guards, declaration of ecotourism site, and reclamation of our forestland from foreigners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo reduce deforestation, poaching and other illegal activities, we need the necessary support for the community to realize its ecotourism dream,\u201d says Grace Yeeplah, Treasurer of the Executive Committee of the Zor Community Forest. \u201cThese efforts have helped us to improve conservation in the last 10 years. We need help to continue with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cocoa being sunbaked in Zor, Nimba County. File picture: Zor Community Forest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zor\u2019s push for ecotourism is a significant step in line with the government\u2019s pledge to conserve 30 percent of Liberia\u2019s forest, which forms the largest portion of West Africa\u2019s remaining rainforests. The Community Rights Law\u2026<\/a>, which created community forestry, allows locals to co-manage forests alongside the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, unfriendly environmental practices like logging, mining, bad farming methods and other forms of deforestation often undermine these efforts, according to a World Bank report<\/a>.  Between 2002 and 2022, Liberia lost 23 percent of its primary forest<\/a> due to rampant deforestation, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), which tracks global deforestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore needs to be done,\u201d says James Otto, a lead campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute. \u201cThe community must set up governance systems and structures that will pay attention to issues like benefits for those who have and those who don\u2019t. They must consider seeking partnerships outside, and external support from other entities who have an interest in ecotourism,\u201d adds Otto.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zor Community Forest lies adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve<\/a> (ENNR), home to nearly 3,000 different species. Zor is a buffer between the reserve and forests on Liberia\u2019s border with Guinea and Ivory Coast. Covering 1,140 hectares, Zor has faced significant threats from illegal mining, poaching, and commercial agriculture in the past, with hunters from Ivory Coast and Guinea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, for over a decade, community leaders in Zor constantly employ conservation and sustainable livelihood initiatives to address these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the community has recruited and trained 22 forest guards, who regularly patrol the forest. In October last year, the FDA conducted a joint forest guard training with community rangers with the ENNR. In November 2023, an MoU agreement reached between AML and the Zor community turned former bushmeat sellers and hunters into forest protectors in local communities such as Zolowee, Gbapa, Suakasue and Zortapa.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have mobilized the community, created awareness on the need to save the forest and the environment,\u201d explains Mahn. \u201cThese efforts are meant to empower our people in ways that will discourage them from harming the forest and its species.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zor maintains a host of community livelihood programs through which it protects its forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With support from ArcelorMittal Liberia and the  NGO, the Multi-stakeholder Forest Governance and Accountability Project (MFGAP), the community processes rice, cocoa, and cassava. ArcelorMittal provides US$160 for community forest guards on a quarterly basis. On the other hand, MFGAP provided US$112,971 to strengthen Zor\u2019s governance system, develop its business model and provide other needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, Zor has set up 40 acres of oil palm farms in 20 towns adjacent to the rocky forest, with two acres established in each of the beneficiary communities. Zor has a rice mill that helps to increase farmers\u2019 productivity and reduce their high cost of labor, while at the same time generating proceeds from minimal fees charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zor Community Forest\u2019s leaders inspecting a cassava processing machine. File picture: Zor Community Forest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the size, each farmer is charged LD130 or LD150 to mill a bucket full of rice.  Zor\u2019s leadership retains 70 percent of the proceeds into a community account, distributing 30 percent to the rice milling machine maintenance team. Of the 70 percent, 40 percent goes to the landowning communities, while the remaining portion is used for administrative purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the prevailing challenges, Zor remains hopeful of achieving their ecotourism desire provided they receive the necessary support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will get many benefits with the ecotourism project,\u201d says Mahn. \u201cWith the right support, we expect the community to come alive with hospitality. We also expect business investment, jobs, economic growth and new community development.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top: The Zor Community Forest covers 1,140 hectares. The DayLight\/Franklin K. Nehyalor By Franklin K. Nehyalor ZOR, Nimba County \u2013 Local leaders in a northeastern community seek more support to conserve their forest. The Zor Community Forest in Zor Chiefdom in the Gbehlay-Geh District of Nimba County has support from ArcelorMittal Liberia and NGOs. 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