Liberia Environmental Watch - LEWSymposiumAddress

First and foremost, I give thanks to the Almighty God for bringing me from Liberia to be here and interact with you on the Liberian environment. My appreciation goes heartily to the Secretariat of the Liberia Environmental Watch, through its Executive Director, Mr. Morris Koffa, for inviting me as guest to this conference, and especially for their profound interest in environmental sustainability in Liberia. May I take this time to greet some Liberians I have met who also show similar interest, especially Thomas Catfish Brownell, Anthony Nah and Michael Suah, who conducted for EPA Liberia, almost on gratis, the first ever environmental evaluators’ training in May 2007. I also recognize Mr. Jerome Sheldon of Umbrella Group, although now out of the loop with the EPA in Liberia.

I am particularly elated to deliver my first USA address in the State of Maryland as Executive Director of the EPA, having grown up and obtained up to secondary education in Maryland County in Liberia, once the State of Maryland in Africa. I predict this conference to be a mighty success, because I believe good things come out of Maryland.

I do not know everyone in the audience, but I believe we are very diverse, even if not in the context of nationalities; I am looking at the Liberian diversity. I imagine Liberians here born out of Liberia who have nevert been to Liberia, Liberians born in Liberia who spent most of their lives out of Liberia, Liberians who came here for a purpose either for higher education or escaping the deadly and foolish war years in Liberia. In this diversity, I see three groups of Liberians in this hall-those eager to return to Liberia now, those with the intention to return home but are still hesitant for various and perhaps obvious reasons and those who have not decided. I have come to believe that in this diversity, many of us do not know much about or anything about Liberia. To this end, I will first attempt to describe the country, LIBERIA.

Liberia is situated on the southwest corner of the West Coast of Africa, along the Gulf of Guinea, between longitudes 7⁰30' and 11⁰30' west and latitudes 4⁰18’ and 8⁰30' north. It covers a surface area of about 111,370 km²(43,506 square miles). The dry land extent is 96,160 sq. km or 37,570 sq. miles. Liberia is limited on the west by Sierra Leone, on the north by Guinea, on the east by Côte d’Ivoire and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Total land boundaries extend to 1,585 kilometers (990 miles)- Guinea, 563 kilometers (352 miles), Cote d’Ivoire, 716 kilometers (446 miles), Sierra Leone, 506 kilometers (191 miles).

There are four topographical regions with each having its own distinct physical features and height above sea level. Along the Sea Coast is the Coastal Plain of 350 miles (560 km), from Cape Mount to Cape Palmas, an almost unbroken sand strip, which starts from the lowest elevation up to 30 meters above sea level, giving the country approximately 70,000 square miles of territorial waters, larger than the size of the country. This is a blessing that only few countries can see in West Africa.. Next to the Coastal Plain is the Belt of inundated plateaux followed by the high lands and rolling hills in the north and northwest. The lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean at zero meters and highest elevation is the northern highlands, which includes Mount Wutivi (1350 meter), the highest elevation in Liberia,

Liberia is drained by six large rivers (Cavalla, Cestos, Lofa, St. John, St. Paul and Mano) with a north-south pattern, deriving their respective sources from mountains or highlands and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. This phenomenon has made Liberia one of the highest hydropower potential countries in Africa. Liberia possesses the largest fraction of the tropical rainforest in the Upper Guinea Forest Region of West Africa, with huge deposits of gold, diamond and iron ore, and yet no proven commercial reserve of oil.

Liberia has an incredible biological diversity compared to its West African neighbors, with high species endemism. The potential for medicinal plants is high, and there are opportunities to promote complementary medicine and eco-tourism. The biological diversity includes over 2000 plants species, among which are about 225 timber species, 600 bird species, 125 mammal species, 1000 insect species and 75 reptile species.

Despite the very glamorous natural image of Liberia, the environment has been and is still in dire need of repairs, due to several factors, primary being bad environmental governance, especially regarding natural resources management, and owing to absence of institutional arrangement for the environment over 100 years as a nation state. Therefore, we have had more than a century a situation of RICH LIBERIA, POOR LIBERIANS.

I have a huge but very welcoming and acceptable challenge to address you on problems that attend the Liberian environment and discuss workable solutions for a sustainable future to give the expert panel a “food for thought”. As cross-cutting as we all know the environment to be, it is still misunderstood in development circles, and apparently rejected as an issue in poor communities. It is now of fundamental importance to Liberia, considered a prerequisite for the success and sustainability of most poverty reduction initiatives in the country.

Many initiatives in Liberia, such as the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Capacity Self-Assessment for global environmental management, National Adaptation Programme of Action for Climate Change, State of the Environment Report on Liberia, Coastal Profile of Liberia and the National Implementation Plan for Persistent Organic Pollutants, together see the following as the major threats to the Liberian environment.

Ignorance: Many Liberians, including some decision-makers, are grossly ignorant about the environment and sometimes do not see the need to include environment in development planning. Many people do not know the effects of unregulated wastes, destruction of mangroves, degradation of natural resources and other vices.

Inadequate Public Awareness; People mis-use or mis-manage the environment and its associated resources because they are not sufficiently informed about the danger ahead in doing so.

Poverty: With more than 74% of Liberians living below the poverty index of US$1/day, care for the environment is secondary, or sometimes not an issue for the poor people who must go through intense hurdles to find food to eat daily. In most cases, the poor have no alternatives to environmental resources. When people are poor, it is difficult to change from their behavior, especially if this is the only means of survival they know.

Apathy: There are Liberians who are neither poor nor lack public awareness, but they just simply do not care about what happens to the environmental. Simply, such people lack “caring for the earth”.

Lack of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Environmental Impact Assessment is just beginning. For over a century as a state, no development project was ever subjected to the EIA process, and as a consequence, many evils attended the country. No Way Camp disaster of 1982 in Mano River, pollution of Yah River, extending to the St. John River by LAMCO, Erosion of West Point and Hotel Africa/OAU Village in Monrovia, Construction of the Gabriel Tucker Bridge across Providence Island in Monrovia, use of low recovery wood processing plants in the past, are few examples.

Lack of a coordinated waste disposal scheme: There is no official central landfill in Liberia, except for the official dumpsite in Fiamah outside of Monrovia. People have been dumping anywhere for decades, and you may agree with me that unregulated and open dumping is a serious disease transmitter. Most of the waste is dumped in wetlands, thereby destroying the spawning grounds for marine fish, and so creating fish shortage and contributing to food insecurity. The darkest side of this is that medical waste is not managed, and the rest of the story you can imagine as sad to tell.

Deforestation/Land Degradation: There are regulations on timber operations, but the regulations have been ignored over the years; we have had a situation of unregulated and irresponsible logging, although not illegal logging. With increasing rate of deforestation for the past three decades, the irony is that replanting/rehabilitation initiatives have been on low ebb, with extraction far exceeding reforestation/afforestation programmes

Shifting Cultivation: Our age-old farming system of slash-and-burn agriculture is estimated to cause 95% of land degradation and a major contributor to deforestation; nevertheless, the yield from the system can only satisfy subsistence living.

Inappropriate Mining Schemes: Chemicals, such as cyanide, are used in the refining process to leach and separate desirable valuable minerals from unwanted minerals. During the process, cyanide and other toxic chemicals are released into the environment and subsequently affect water, soil, and humans. Leakage from the piles of waste that are leached with cyanide and other toxic constituents released directly into the environment affect surface and groundwater flow, and especially contaminate ground water.

Inappropriate Use of Chemicals: For a very long time there was no programme on use and control of chemicals. Consequently, no one even knew which chemicals were phasing out or banned, or to some extent, the ban or phase-out was ignored by business people or with no information to the ignorant farmer.

Lack of Land-Use Planning: Due to the general absence of land-use feasibility studies over a century, land-use planning has not been practiced. You can understand why people build anywhere, attempt to grow anything anywhere. This has taken a huge toll on our environment.

Limited Capacity for Environmental Management: There is acute limited capacity (technical, institutional and systemic) for management of existing and planned environmental programmes in Liberia. We have lost international projects due to lack of absorptive capacities for implementation/execution.

Through UNDP funding, Liberia elaborated three environmental instruments, 1) National
Environmental Policy of Liberia, 2) Environment Protection and Management Law of Liberia and 3) Environmental Protection Agency Act. Liberia therefore established an Environmental Protection Agency in 2004, at age 147.

a) Co-ordinate, integrate, harmonize and monitor the implementation of environmental policy and decisions of the Policy Council by the Line Ministries;

b) Propose environmental policies and strategies to the Policy Council and ensure the integration of environmental concerns in overall national planning;

c) Collect, analyze and prepare basic scientific data and other information pertaining to pollution, degradation and on environmental quality, resource use and other environmental protection and conservation matters and undertake research and prepare and disseminate every two years a report on the state of the environment in Liberia;

In an international context and in an attempt to ensure effective environmental governance for the protection of national, regional and global environment, Liberia has acceded to /ratified several multilateral environmental agreements, such as:

ü Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

ü United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol on Clean Development Mechanisms

ü United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Although Liberia has demonstrated sufficient goodwill for environmental governance by elaborating the three instruments and becoming party to most of the agreements, insufficient financial resources and necessary infrastructure as well as the paucity of trained human resources are seriously hampering implementation of national policies and international agreements.

Environmental Reporting: Liberia has taken measures to implement multilateral environmental agreements and honor other international agreements. We have prepared the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Capacity Self-Assessment for global environmental management, National Adaptation Programme of Action for climate change, Coastal Profile of Liberia, Third National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Reports on Mountains and Technology Transfer, National Implementation for Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biosafety Framework and National Plan on Ozone Depleting Substances.

Sub-regional Initiatives: Liberia is participating in a tri-national (Cote d’Ivoire, guinea and Liberia) effort for conservation of the biological diversity of Mount Nimba, a massif shared by the three West African States. We are also participating in the development of a common environmental policy for West Africa; validation of the document will take place 12-16 November 2007 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. We have proposed the Mano River Union Marine Protected Area for the protection of the territorial waters of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. We have received initial commitment from UNIDO to provide funding for holding the first consultative meeting.

Training: In 2007 the EPA trained 30 environmental inspectors (supported by UNEP), 25 environmental evaluators (supported by the World Bank and several private sector orgqanizations such as Firestone, Mittal Steel Liberia Agriculture Company, Earthcons, Earthtime, Broadway and Total Oil), conducted forest monitors training for the inspectors (supported by Fauna and Flora International) and water quality standards training for the inspectors (supported by UNEP). UNEP provided some water quality equipment for the EPA after this training, which closed on 15 October 2007. The contribution of UNEP has paved the way for setting up a water quality laboratory at the EPA.

Inter-agency cooperation: EPA entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the control on importation of chemicals, MOU with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) for environmental impact assessment for forestry activities, particularly timber production, provided internet equipment to FDA, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to satisfy condition set out by the Global Environment Facility under our the Biosafety clearing house project; with funds from GTZ under the ozone project, we provided refrigerant identifiers to customs officers at the Ministry of Finance; we are in the process of providing modern state of the act refrigerators (funding from GTZ) to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center to begin the phase-out of identified refrigeration gases, which will be banned by 2010.

Waste Management: The EPA has entered into MOU with the Monrovia City Corporation, Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy to put in place a waste management programme with Funds from the World Bank. The Fiamah Dumpsite near Monrovia will be decommissioned by 30 November 2007. We have identified a permanent landfill site in Mount Barclay near Monrovia, but it would require extensive and intensive environmental impact assessment. Consequently, after 30 November waste collected through the World Bank Project will be deposited in Wehn Town near Monrovia until Mount Barclay is ready. Once Mount Barclay is ready, the waste dumped at Wehn Town will be re-collected and taken to Mount Barclay. Having entered into MOU with the City of Buchanan recently, it is the only city outside Monsterrado County with a temporary waste disposal site. Gbarnga is now exploring the possibility, and we hope others will follow.

Participation in Other Sectoral Initiatives: EPA is participating in development of Food and Agriculture Policy by the Ministry of Agriculture, participating in pre-qualification of timber concession applicants by the FDA and participating in preparation of the Integrated Rural Water Management Policy by the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy. We hail the three sister GOL institutions for these environmentally sound initiatives.

Participation in Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS): EPA chairs the Environment Working Group (EWG) in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process. We submitted a ten-paper and two-page executive summary as required by the Steering Committee by end of October 2007. Thanks to the UNEP-UNDP Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI) for providing technical assistance to the working group, through two external consultants who fielded their first mission to Liberia recently. The PRS will be ready by March 2008. Electronic version of the report of the EWG is with the Liberia Environmental Watch for your comments, in the spirit of peer review mechanism. Please send your comments on the report to the EPA at your convenience, but bear in mind that the process is moving on.

Environmental Impact Assessment: As required by Part III of the Environment Protection and Management Law of Liberia and Section 37 (1) of the Act Creating the Agency, we have mandated all development initiatives already in existence to submit their environmental management plans (EMPs) by latest November 30, 2007. We will review the EMPs and work hard to complete the process for acceptance/rejection by 31 January 2008 so that environmental audit will begin immediately thereafter. For those developments coming into existence now and in the future, especially mining, timber road construction, infrastructure (housing, hotels, embassies, universities and other schools) they will be required to submit screening and scoping reports to enable us make determinations as to whether EIA will be required, as appropriate.

Section 10 (2) of the Law gives the Agency the powers to maintain a registry of the names and qualifications of approved consultants from which the Agency, in consultation with Line Ministries and Agencies, shall authorize a consultant to prepare an environment impact study. In this connection, our Regulation No.1 requires that only EPA Liberia certified consultants can conduct environmental studies in Liberia; this notwithstanding, a firm or individual may hire an external consultant, but this shall be subjected to approval by the EPA after cross-reference with the World Bank, African Development Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme. This regulation is intended to close the floodgates to unscrupulous people, as we do not want so-called consultants to use Liberia as their testing grounds.

Escrow and Trust Funds: Subject to endorsement by the Policy Council and Board of Directors of the EPA, we will submit legislation for an environmental trust fund targeting private sector funding, so that each will contribute a minimum percentage of yearly profit to environmental sustainability. In addition, we intend to submit a legislation that will require developers to deposit money in an escrow account for environmental clean-up in adherence to the precautionary and polluters-pays principles of the National Environmental Policy of Liberia. The money put in escrow will in effect be performance bonds for major companies whose activities are deemed to have significant impact on the environment. The money can return to a company with proven record of low impact or no significant impact when that company decides to close down operations.

In order to ensure sound and effective environmental audit and assess baseline conditions that may be submitted by developers, we need a modern environmental standards laboratory, well equipped and manned by well-trained Liberians. Support is also needed in the area of information technology for management information system at the EPA.

Liberia is the only country in West Africa once completed blanketed with forest; although there has been tremendous pressure on the resources, we still boast of possessing about 40% of the remaining forest in the Upper Guinea Region. The forest and other associated resources, such as the highlands, waterfalls, bat caves, stone scenes plateau and Sapo National Park present excellent opportunities for initiating public-private partnership ventures for eco-tourism. Sapo National Park is considered as the lowland forest of the highest tourism value in all of West Africa.

We call for investment in Waste Management, including support to hospitals, waste disposal entities and other medical institutions for the erection of incinerators and equipment, such as trucks and to also form partnership with Liberian entities. The potential for biofuels is high, considering that we are a forested country with extensive undergrowth and other woody vegetations, including unutilized rice husks, waste from sugar cane, palm oil, etc. With the extensive use of septic tanks as means of sewer disposal, investment in bio-gas digesters is another opportunity. We need some ideas on what to do with Fiamah after it is decommissioned. We could turn it into a playground and/or find someone to invest in gas turbine as a waste to energy initiative. Another initiative that presents huge opportunity is a recycling plant.

In a search for consultants and volunteers, we need environmental lawyers and environmental evaluators to assist in the EIA process. This is so because we want to begin drafting legislations and regulations and prepare guidelines and environmental quality standards. As indicated by the National Capacity Self-Assessment Report for Liberia, capacity gaps across all sectors are huge, and therefore we need training: short, medium and long-terms. Nevertheless, while we wait for resources for the training, we would appreciate volunteers to the EPA to fill some of the gaps. I hope Mr. Perkins’ volunteer suggestions are still in place. Can the UN volunteers be available? I have the confidence that UNDP, my formal employer in Liberia, has an answer.

We call on development partners and academic institutions to extend to us exchange programmes and fellowships so that we can expose our technicians and middle level professionals. With our very porous borders and long coast line, we call for a well capacitated and trained customs cadre to detect banned substances, living modified organisms and invasive alien species at border crossing points.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has recognized pollution, especially dumping of toxic wastes along the coasts of Africa, as one of the most troubling and serious environmental problems. With the acute limited capacity of our Coast Guard, Liberia is in danger of been used as a dumping ground for toxic waste, unless we build the capacity of and empower the Coast Guard.

In order to improve on public education and awareness and reduce the level of ignorance about the environment, a massive public awareness campaign needs to be supported, through dramas, vernacular electronic programmes, establishment of environmental nature clubs in schools and communities. We call on the Ministry of Education to introduce environmental education in the national curriculum.

Ladies and gentlemen, as you are all aware, the first female President in Africa and President of the Republic of Liberia, H. E. Ellen Johnson-Sirfleaf, may now be going through an honor-fatigue. She has received more honors than any President of Liberia in our time, nationally and international, in less then two years in office. The latest award being the Medal of Freedom she received among others at the White House on November 5, 2007.

During the ceremony, President George W. Bush of the United States of America remembered the words of the first honouree of the award, Dr. Becker who said, “Many intellectuals, many economists, use obscure language when they write. Sometimes it’s a way of distinguishing that they are not saying a heck of a lot.”

President Bush then said, “This economist, however, is different. Gary Becker’s many books and articles, and his 19 years as a weekly columnist, have provide-proven him to be a thinker of originality and clarity. Dr. Becker has shown that by applying these principles to public policy, we can make great strides in promoting enterprise and public safety, protecting the environment, improving public schools, and strengthening the family. Dr, Becker has explained, as well, the real value of investing in human capital-he knows full well that an educated and well-trained workforce adds to the vigor of our economy and helps raise the standard of living for all of us.

When tyrannies fall, it’s the prisoners and exiles who are called forth to lead their people. We’ve seen it in our time, in the lives of Presidents Havel and Nelson Mandela, and Prime Minister Maliki, and in the Republic of Liberia, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.”

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: The first female president in Africa and President of the Republic of Liberia, H. E. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, must be going through a donor-fatigue, as she has received more honors than any president in our time, national and international. I believe that it is about time the President of Liberia begins to honor more people than has been the case. Therefore, and subject to endorsement by the Board of Directors and Policy Council of the EPA, I hereby propose the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf award for environmental excellence in Liberia. The award will be sectoral-based, ranging from schools to industry, counties and cities in Liberia and communities and private individuals. We request the Liberia Environmental Watch and the Environmental Management and Compliance Group to serve on the panel of judges. We will recommend to the President to give out the first awards on World Environment Day, 05 June 2008.

I thank everyone in the audience for the patience you endured to listen to this very lengthy speech, and leave you with the following:

GOD BLESS LIBERIA; MAY THY WILL DIRECT HER, THROUGH TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES; MAY THY SHIELD PROTECT HER; MAY PLENTY FILL HER LAND AND NO TROUBLE COME HER WAY AGAIN.