So Who Owns the Forest? An Investigation into Forest Ownership and Customary Land Rights in Liberia | Land Portal

Informations sur la ressource

Date of publication: 
novembre 2007
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
mokoro:5707

State/people forest relations are at a turning point in Liberia. The crux of the issue is property relations and how the rights of rural Liberians to forests are treated in law and in practice. Central to the problem and the solution is the status of customary land rights. The paper tracks what happened to the natural rights indigenous Liberians have to their lands and the valuable forests that grow on them. It looks back at the treatment of customary land tenure over the century-long process of forming the modern Liberian state. Through fieldwork, the study identifies customary property norms as operating today. It finds that colonial policy with regard to indigenous land interests was uncharacteristically benign, as was the imposition of indirect rule. Together these have created a foundation on which democratic land relations may be rebuilt. There is also genuine vibrancy in collective norms of customary tenure closely linked to the role of forestland in the rural economy. Interference in customary property rights is severe but mainly recent. Favourable conditions for remedying the situation exist. Remedial rather than radical action is required. Practical steps towards achieving a solution are suggested. Much rests on the proposed Community Rights Law.

Auteurs et éditeurs

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Liz Alden Wily

Corporate Author(s): 

 Fern (also Stichting Fern) is a Dutch foundation created in 1995. It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) set up to keep track of the European Union's involvement in forests and to coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Through its work, Fern aims to increase the political and economic opportunities for people to create a more balanced society in which human rights are fully respected and environmental and social values are fully integrated.

 

 

Publisher(s): 

 Fern (also Stichting Fern) is a Dutch foundation created in 1995. It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) set up to keep track of the European Union's involvement in forests and to coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Through its work, Fern aims to increase the political and economic opportunities for people to create a more balanced society in which human rights are fully respected and environmental and social values are fully integrated.

 

 

Fournisseur de données

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Mokoro is pleased to host the ’Land Rights in Africa’ site as a contribution to the land rights dialogue and related debates. This website was created in January 2000 by Robin Palmer, and was originally housed by Oxfam GB, where Robin worked as a Land Rights Adviser. A library of resources on land rights in Africa – with a particular focus on women’s land rights and on the impact of land grabbing in Africa – the portal has been well received by practitioners, researchers and policy makers, and has grown considerably over the years.

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