Forest Incomes for Environmental Sustainability Activity

Combating Deforestation and Biodiversity Loss by Creating Economic Opportunities for Farmers and Communities

Summary

FIFES’s overall goal is to combat deforestation and loss of biodiversity while developing key rural forest-based enterprises that provide sustainable economic opportunities for farmers and forest-dependent communities.

Project Objectives

Enhanced capacity of government of Liberia (GoL) institutions and rural communities to sustainably manage and benefit from CF and buffer zone natural resources
Creation of well-developed rural forest-based enterprises, which provide sustainable economic opportunities for farmers and forest-dependent communities while combatting deforestation and biodiversity loss

Project Activities and Approaches

Promote sustainable community forest management through annual organizational capacity assessments and barrier analyses of Community Forest Management Bodies (CFMBs)
Work with CFMBs to establish Institutional Strengthening Plans to identify and increase their capacity to sustainably manage their community forests and larger landscapes through development and implementation of Community Forest Management Plans, community-based biodiversity monitoring, and conservation awareness raising
Work with local stakeholders to assess sustainable forest-based livelihood development opportunities, identify relevant forest-based value chains and strengthen them by building the capacity of CFMBs to provide technical support to improve the selection, harvesting, storage, and processing of forest-based products
Help CFMBs establish a coordination and communication network amongst themselves and national level actors to encourage a unified, efficient, and effective effort toward biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood development
Bring together key stakeholders in sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood development in Liberia to share lessons learned and best practices
Work alongside Government of Liberia partners (e.g., Forestry Development Authority and Forestry Training Institute) to promote improved local governance of community forests

Achieved & Anticipated Results

Reached 23,617 households
Assisted 11 Community Forest Management Bodies to undertake community-based forest resource inventories, establish resource use zones, review and revise eight (8) Community Forest Management Plans, and draft original text for three (3) Community Forest Management Plans to ensure improved natural resource management for 54,708 hectares of biologically significant Upper Guinean Forest in Liberia
Guided Community Forest Management Bodies through a participatory internal capacity assessment process, selection of three (3) of their number to serve as Community Forest Management Body Hubs, and the creation of a Community Forest Management Body Network to coordinate market and technical information flow, and provide central commercial/warehouse sites for sustainably produced commodities through linked Enterprise Groups
Conducted annual participatory Institutional Technical and Organizational Capacity Assessments with 11 Community Forest Management Bodies and developed individual Institutional Strengthening Plans (ISPs) to guide training programs. These training programs resulted in an average CFMB capacity rating score of 65 percent, compared to a 41 percent average at the start of the Activity; a majority of the 11 supported CFs increased their capacity by 100 percent or more
Assisted three CFMB Hubs to develop value-added business plans for sustainably produced products in their respective geographic areas (sustainable cocoa and charcoal production); business plans provide a framework to link Community Forest Management Bodies and Enterprise Groups surrounding the community forests, and are being used to leverage start-up capital
Assisted CFMBs to plan and facilitate commercial roundtables resulting in the creation of three (3) private-public partnerships that generated $67,880 in new private sector resource contributions for CFMB livelihood development and sustainable natural resource use efforts
Mobilized and provided capacity development and technical assistance to 93 enterprise groups that work in five (5) value chains (cocoa, honey, cowpeas, pepper, and plantains) surrounding 11 community forests; resulting in 10,990 individuals with increased economic benefits derived from sustainable NRM and conservation activities
Established 177 Women Owning Resources Together (WORTH) groups around nine (9) community forests with a total of 4,710 group members. These groups empower women and community members to undertake village-based savings and loans in order to support the development of environmentally conscious enterprises as a means to reduce threats to biodiversity across forest dependent communities
Developed outreach messages, radio spots, and extension materials (laminated flip books and technical pages) for CFMB extension specialists to use to encourage community forest stakeholders to practice WORTH savings and loans, Farming as a Business (FaaB), production Best Practices (BPs), home-gardening and compost techniques, and sustainable natural resource use planning and management

Funder: USAID