TEEB Liberia Final Workshop

Monrovia, 3-5 May 2017

The final project workshop was co-hosted with Conservation International who will be using and developing the TEEB results in their project on land-use planning. The TEEB assessment of mangroves was very well received by the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ayaa Vohiri, who has asked for a further rapid assessment of potential changes in fish stocks owing to a recent proposed changed in restrictions; this bio-economic modelling work is being finalized.

The following recommendations were made:

1. Regulation and land use planning. An effective governance framework needs to be in place to halt degradation and stimulate restoration. This does not only include sound legal and institutional frameworks, but also a structure and adequate resourcing for law enforcement. TEEB Liberia focused on spatial planning approaches at the landscape scale, including Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). Traditional norms and customary codes for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves need to be considered in these planning approaches. Although three of Liberia´s most important mangrove sites are recognized as Ramsar sites and the Lake Piso Multiple Use Reserve is established, financing and management resources for these sites are very limited. TEEB results contribute to the establishment or revision of local management plans.
2. Market based instruments - taxes. The EPA has identified the possibility of introducing a levy system on artisanal, motorized and/or industrial fisheries practices. This includes a transparent benefit-sharing mechanism for local communities and affect owners of nets and fishing canoes, boats and trawlers, as well as fish drying and transport facilities.
3. Market based instruments – Conservation Agreements. TEEB Liberia suggests the introduction of a Conservation Agreement scheme as a tool to preserve mangroves and their ecological, economic and cultural values. The scheme would be guided by the following principles: i) easily implementable in a data poor environment, ii) simple and transparent for the target group, iii) fair and equitable, and iv) sustainable livelihood development targets. Applicants to the scheme (individual landowners and local communities) would be incentivized to use the monetary payment as an investment for the development of sustainable livelihood activities, having a direct impact on the living conditions of local communities.