Communities of Grand Cape Mount, Liberia
March 25th, 2013
Land reforms in Liberia must learn from and protect communities' customary land and resource rights, urge Grand Cape Mount communities in new report (avaiable here via the Forest Peoples Programme). Instances of conflict between communities and large-scale agricultural concessions have recently brought the issues of land and human rights into focus in Liberia, and throughout Africa. Rural communities in Grand Cape Mount, north-western Liberia, have been at the sharp end of a dispute with Malaysian oil palm giant Sime Darby, that received national and international attention.
Today, these communities will present a new report to the Liberian Land Commission, “We who live here own the land” – Customary Land Tenure in Grand Cape Mount, and Community Recommendations for Reform of Liberia’s Land Policy & Law" to ensure that governments, companies and communities learn from the experiences at Grand Cape Mount. In the report, a Grand Cape Mount community member describes how BF Goodrich and Sime Darby rubber and oil palm plantations have impacted the community.
For more information visit the Forest Peoples Programme website