The Government of Liberia with the support of the Kingdom of Norway and the World Bank is organizing a high-level Forest and Climate Resilience Forum, on February 2-3, 2023. The purpose of this Forum is to catalyze renewed commitments and strengthen partnerships in sustainable forest management as a key strategy supporting Liberia’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).

The Forum will provide a platform for high-level stakeholders to discuss key areas of progress, challenges, and next steps in the forest sector, using local and regional examples. It will highlight and showcase Liberia’s progress in forest and climate resilience policy, and tangible successes on the ground in relation to sustainable forest management, community forestry, conservation forestry, among others. The Forum will also explore lessons learnt from other parts of the world and regionally regarding sustainable forest management, to inform future development of the sector in Liberia. This will ultimately provide possibilities for next steps in advancing forestry together with livelihoods, agriculture, climate resilience, and infrastructure.

The President of Liberia, His Excellency Dr. George Manneh Weah will address the opening session of the Forum. Others addressing the opening are Mr. Hans Brattskar, Special Envoy on Climate and Forest, Kingdom of Norway, and Mr. Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa. Other co-conveners of the event are USAID-Liberia, UNDP, The Swedish Embassy, The European Union, and the Government of the United Kingdom through its Embassy in Liberia.

The Forum will bring together about 200 participants and will feature high-level regional and international Ministers and Directors spearheading forest management in their respective countries. The platform will set the stage for community leaders, global experts on forests, economic development, and climate change, private sector leaders, and development partners to share success stories about the benefits and opportunities the forest sector can offer to the overall economic development of Liberia.

The main objective of the Forest and Climate Resilience Forum is to catalyze partnerships and renew political commitments and broad interest at the highest level in sustainable forest management as a key strategy supporting the Liberia’s PAPD. The Forum presents an opportunity to take stock of policies and interventions, deepen understanding of forests’ multi-sector roles, and generate ideas towards meeting Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) from COP26, and to reconfirm commitments to work with partners and share knowledge in the context of natural resources management driven by comprehensive and scientific approaches to achieve sustainability in shared objectives.