- The Karluway District #1 Community Forest has signed a logging agreement with African Industries and Merchandize (AIM) Liberia Inc. after months of deadlock mainly driven by demands for reforestation and environmental protection.
- Youth leaders and residents insisted that tree replanting be included in the agreement, warning that logging without reforestation could worsen environmental damage and changing weather conditions in the area.
- Despite the concerns, the agreement was approved by a two-thirds majority consensus, while community recommendations on reforestation were deferred for possible amendment after five years.
By Peter P. Toe, Jr., peterp.toe@frontpageafricaonline.com
KARLUWAY, Maryland County – After months of tension, debate, and uncertainty over the future of one of southeastern Liberia’s vast community forests, residents of the Karluway District #1 Community Forest in Maryland County have finally signed a Commercial Contract and Forest Lease Agreement with African Industries and Merchandize (AIM) Liberia Inc.
The signing ceremony, held on Monday, May 4, brought an end to a prolonged deadlock that had sharply divided opinions within the community and slowed negotiations surrounding the proposed logging operation in the forest landscape.
For weeks, the debate stretched beyond timber harvesting. It evolved into a larger struggle over environmental protection, accountability, and whether development promises made to rural communities truly outweigh the long-term consequences of forest destruction.
At the center of the tension were growing demands from youth leaders, forest residents, and community stakeholders who insisted that any logging agreement must include clear commitments on reforestation, environmental safeguards, and direct engagement with company executives before the contract could be finalized.
Speaking following the signing, Jacob P. Nyancie, President of the Karluway Youth Association, clarified that the youth were never against the company’s operation in the district, despite public perception during the height of the disagreement.
“This gone Monday we were able to sign the agreement with the company,” Nyancie said. “People misinterpreted it saying we the youth were stopping the company, but our advocacies were for the good of our people and the entire Karluway District #1.”
According to him, the youth leadership drafted recommendations intended to strengthen the agreement, particularly around environmental protection and future community benefits. However, they were informed before the signing that those recommendations would instead be considered during a future amendment process after five years.
“They told us before the day of the signing that our recommendations should be put on hold and they will include them during amendment after five years,” Nyancie explained.
“Our people had already resolved to receive the company, which of course was a very fine thing. So, for the sake of peace, we agreed. We were not really opposing the company, but we only wanted the right thing to be done.”
Nyancie said the youth leadership later engaged their colleagues in discussions to ease tensions and avoid further conflict within the district.
“Being the head of the youth that were raising the issues, the only thing I could do was to go roundtable and talk to my colleagues,” he added.
The agreement was eventually endorsed through a two-thirds majority consensus among community stakeholders, according to videography in our possession.
Karluway Statutory District Superintendent Peter T. Kumah, Sr. described the signing process as peaceful and inclusive, noting that several meetings were held with citizens before the agreement was concluded.
“The signing was very good and all stakeholders were present,” Kumah said. “I told the youth that all of their concerns were heard but they should give us time to look into it so that when the time comes for any amendment, these things that were not added will be added.”For his part, Gabriel D. Blayon, Special Company Representative of AIM Liberia Inc., praised the atmosphere surrounding the signing ceremony, saying he was pleased the process ended without conflict.
“I am very glad and very happy the way we signed this agreement today,” Blayon said. “There are some agreements where there can be a whole lot of noise and problems, but this was very peaceful.”
However, when asked directly whether the company would commit to reforestation — one of the community’s central demands during the negotiation period — Blayon stopped short of making any commitment outside the signed agreement.
“We are just going to do things as per the agreement,” he said. “We are not going to do things outside the agreement. So, what is spelled out in that document is what we will go by.”
The response is likely to keep concerns alive among some residents who fear the environmental cost of large-scale logging in the district, especially since reforestation was not included in the final agreement signed Monday.
Months of Tension Over Reforestation and Trust
While the agreement has now been signed, the path to Monday’s ceremony was marked by months of tension, mistrust, and competing visions for Karluway’s future.
In the thick, green silence of Karluway’s forest belt, where towering hardwood trees stand over creeks, hills, and scattered settlements, residents were deeply divided over what the agreement would mean for their future.
For some, the company represented long-awaited development in a district struggling with poor roads, limited healthcare, unemployment, and inadequate schools. For others, the forest represented survival itself — a source of food, medicine, hunting grounds, and protection from worsening environmental conditions.
The district’s community forest, officially recognized in October 2022 under a Community Forest Management Agreement (CFMA) with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), covers approximately 34,004 hectares in Maryland County.
The deadlock intensified earlier this year following negotiations surrounding a proposed logging contract that promised jobs and development projects in the district.
Before AIM Liberia entered the picture, the community had reportedly signed an agreement in 2023 with WESTNAF Group of Companies. That agreement, however, failed to materialize amid allegations of irregularities and growing dissatisfaction among residents.
The failed WESTNAF process left deep skepticism across Karluway and shaped many of the demands raised during the latest negotiations with AIM Liberia Inc.
During earlier consultations, AIM Liberia reportedly promised jobs, road rehabilitation, hand pumps, and other community development initiatives as part of its logging operation. But while many residents welcomed those promises, others questioned what would remain of the forest after years of commercial logging.
At the center of the disagreement was a simple but emotionally charged demand: if trees are removed, they must be replanted.
Nyancie, during an earlier interview on Voice of Pleebo Radio at the peak of the deadlock, insisted that reforestation must be non-negotiable.
“We want them to put afforestation in the agreement, that when they cut the trees, they should establish nurseries, bring valuable trees, and place them in nurseries for replanting,” he said at the time.
His concern reflected growing fear among residents about changing weather patterns and environmental instability in the region.
Days before his appearance on the radio, violent winds reportedly swept through parts of Barrobo Dugboken, Glofaken, and Karloken communities, leaving destruction behind and deepening fears about the environmental impact of continued deforestation.
Residents frequently referenced earlier storms in Maryland County, including a 2020 incident in Grand Cavalla where strong winds destroyed homes and displaced dozens of people.
To many in Karluway, such events were not isolated disasters but warning signs of environmental decline.
Community members also pointed to neighboring Grand Gedeh County, where expanding cocoa farming and logging activities have contributed to extensive deforestation in community forests, concession areas, and proposed protected areas.
For some residents, those experiences became cautionary examples of what could happen if logging operations proceeded without clear environmental protections.
Yet despite the environmental fears, economic hardship pushed many residents toward supporting the agreement.
Richard Freeman, a women’s leader in Dorrobo Chiefdom, openly acknowledged that logging activities could disrupt farming and traditional livelihoods but argued that the community desperately needed development.
“We want the company because we are suffering,” Freeman said during earlier consultations. “We know it will make us not to farm like before, but we need clinic, schools.”
Samuel Smith, a farmer in Gbeabo Township, shared similar views.
“We know animals will run away and hunting will be hard for us, but we need roads,” Smith said. “Let the government help bring this company in the rightful way.”
But for others, development without environmental safeguards posed dangerous long-term consequences.
Abel Clark, Vice President of the Karluway District Youth Association, argued during the negotiation process that the community deserved both development and environmental protection.
“We want to ensure that our environment is protected, and that our people get their just benefits for their resources,” Clark said.
Beyond reforestation, frustration also grew over what residents described as limited direct engagement with the company’s leadership during negotiations.
Many community members complained that discussions were being conducted largely through representatives of the Community Forest Management Body (CFMB), while ordinary citizens had little direct interaction with company executives.
“Our major issue right now is to meet with the company executives themselves,” Alfred Nyantee, Community Assembly (CA) Chair, said during the height of the deadlock.
“Since we have been going through the agreement review process, we have never met them face to face.”
Nyantee criticized the arrangement, arguing that meaningful negotiations required transparency and direct communication between residents and company leadership.
“Only CFMB continues to come, and things don’t work that way,” he added.
Although the latest agreement has now been signed, the debate surrounding it has exposed deeper questions facing forest communities across Liberia — how to balance development with environmental protection, and whether promises made during negotiations will ultimately translate into lasting benefits for ordinary citizens.
In Karluway, the agreement may have ended the deadlock, but it has not ended the questions. As logging preparations begin, many residents are still watching to see whether development will come at the cost of the forest they have depended on for generations.
This Story Was a Production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ)
