Degradation caused by illegal and Quasi-Legal Logging and artisanal mining posed serious threat to Liberia ?s forests future. The Government of Liberia ?s (GOL) domestic timber supply policy appears to be a contributor to forest degradation though poorly regulated chain sawing practices (known locally as pit-sawing) via a permit system which leads to over cutting, lost revenues and potential corruption, including the illegal export of planks.The report also explained that GOL expected industrial and artisanal mining activities to grow rapidly during the Poverty Reduction Strategy period, from near zero production in 2005/06 to 12 percent of GDP by 2010. Thus, the GOL is counted on such growth as a means of contributing significantly to employment, income generation and infrastructure development which created a high degree of geographic overlap between mineral deposits and exploration permits and the protected area/forest reserve network. The exploitation had significantly affected

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biodiversity and forest cover. Forest destruction has posed dams and rivers, ground and surface water pollution, and habitat fragmentation among others environmental risk to human and the ecosystem. The impact of over 100,000 artisanal miners operating in Liberia, including 3000 operating in David Dean Town and Saywen Town alone, has resulted in degradable land.

The Community Initiatives Against Land Degradation and Deforestations project is aim at supporting the GEF investment to arrest and reverse desertification and deforestation through collaboration with affected communities and the Liberia Environmental Agency (EPA) to foster effective and inclusive governance and use of community land in a sustainable manner that protects the marine, freshwater, people as well as the ecosystem. The project will plant 2500 forest trees on 8,000 hectares, covered (refill) 450 artisanal mining pit holds, resurrect 5000 hectares of degraded land and provide short term employee opportunities for 300 indigents in David Dean Town and Saywen Town in Bong County. ERDL know that the Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMC) and women in affected communities are critical to achieving this project goals, furthermore the identification/selection of CLDMCs is criteria based on community decisions and sustainability of the project. ERDL?s leadership will draw on their good relationships with the communities and local authorities to respond promptly to changes in context. The secondary target groups are community members, particularly affected landowners, subsistent farmers, and those with influence such as community leaders, leaders of women's and youth groups and religious authorities. The project will target these stakeholders with social behavior change campaign in the project communities to enable them to avoid further land degradation and deforestation.

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