The AP obtained a diplomatic document prepared by Britain expressing strong concern 'a parallel system' for logging may exist in Liberia. It outlines more than three dozen cases where rainforest timber was reportedly illegally felled or exported.
The document is a compilation of reports prepared by independent international monitors over the last three years, made public here for the first time. It includes a table of 39 cases where monitors said they found evidence of lawbreaking or governance failure and no action taken to address any of them. It says the country’s chief timber official, Mike Doryen, runs his own “special task force” to bypass the personnel stationed at checkpoints who are there to prevent logging virgin rainforest.
Their document was sent to Liberian ministers last September and was passed to the office of the country’s president, correspondence with his deputy press secretary shows.Liberia is West Africa’s most forested country, still home to endangered species including chimpanzees and forest elephants. The U.K. document says up to 70% of Liberia’s timber exports may bypass the official tracking system put in place to protect the forest.
He said his group brought to light evidence in one case “and there has been no action by the FDA,” referring to the country’s Forestry Development Authority. But logs like the ones Doryen describes as abandoned have raised eyebrows even within Liberia’s timber trade.
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