Across Africa, corporations are grabbing community land and water - and nowhere more than in Liberia, where half the country has already been allocated to foreign investors. But one community has shown it's possible to overcome intimidation, organise and resist.

May 6th, 2014

Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor, founder of SDI, reflects on Liberia's successes and challenges in natural resources governance with fellow Liberian, SOAS Ph.D. student Robtel Neajai Pailey for this Governance in Africa Conversations podcast produced by the School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS)/Mo Ibrahim Foundation. He speaks at length about the issues of natural resource governance, land rights, inclusivity in governance and social justice. The history of SDI and the its purpose going forward are also highlighted.

Since the 2012 moratorium on and subsequent cancellation of Private Use Permits (PUPs) in the last quarter of 2013, there has been an alarming rise in the number of applications for Community Forestry Management Agreements (CFMAs) across the country. There are concerns that logging operators previously operating illegal PUPs are now pursuing CFMAs as an alternative to allow them to continue to harvest timber in Liberia.