This report describes the forest resource of Liberia and how it is managed. In particular, it describes how the revenue accruing from the sales of the resource is shared. Liberia has a total of 2,085,898 ha of forest land. This is a major source of revenue, contributing between 5‑9 percent to the country’s GDP. The forest resource is managed by Forestry Development Authority, which is the only government arm given the authority to control the utilisation of the resource and determine charges on forest products and land rentals.
Liberia has many charges and regulations for the purpose of forest product utilisation. Some of the charges that are used in Liberia are: severance charge (USD 1.50/m3), reforestation charge (USD 5.00/m3) and conservation charge (USD 4.00/m3). Apart from these charges on timber products, non-timber forest products also attract charges of various levels. Fines also occupy a very important position as a source of revenue to the country.
Ironically, even with all the many charges and fines, Liberia collects only USD 7,849,568 in charges against a proposed expenditure of USD 7,918,831, leaving a deficit of USD 69,263. The report recommends that the forest revenue collection system should be improved to introduce more effective and efficient monitoring to earn enough revenue to cover annual expenditure on forestry development in Liberia.
