The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and collaborating partners have successfully concluded the distribution of copies of Liberia’s amended 2012 Penal Law and the 2016 Wildlife Conservation and Protected Area Management Law amongst police zones and depots including magisterial courts across Monrovia.
The week long exercise aimed at increasing awareness in relation to prosecuting wildlife and environmental related crimes in Liberia and it’s expected to be continued in other parts of the country.
Amongst places served copies of the laws were Careysburg Magisterial Court and Police Depot, Mount Barclay Police Depot, Bentol Police Depot and Magisterial Court, Pipeline Police Depot, Soul Clinic Police Depot, ELWA Zone 8 Police Depot, Johnsonville Police Depot, Paynesville Magisterial Court, Monrovia City Court, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Congo Town Police Depot, Slip Way Water Side Police Depot, Old Road and Airfield Depots.
Others were Freeport Police depot, Kebbah Police depot, Gardnerville Police depot, Caldwell Police depot, Brewerville Police depot and many others. More than 30 police zones and depots benefited from the exercise which is being described as a “good beginning.”
Making remarks on behalf of the team upon delivery of the laws to the depot and zone commanders, FDA Wildlife Manager, Abednego Gbarway, stressed the need for law enforcement to be equipped with these important documents to aid in prosecuting wildlife and environmental related crimes.
Many law enforcement institutions are not adequately aware of or informed about these laws since they were passed by the National Legislature.
Mr. Gbarway used these occasions to solicit the full cooperation of enforcement institutions and promised that FDA and collaborating partners will support and rely upon them in the fight against wanton abuse of the rights of protected species; something which runs contrary to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to which Liberia is a Party (CITES) regulation.
In separate statements, the zones and depot commanders expressed excitement over the availability of these laws and assured the team of their maximum cooperation to implement the law accordingly. One motivated commander at the Soul Clinic Police depot was heard saying, “This will make my work easier. With this as reliance, the job will now be easy.”
Another in Kebbah police depot recommended that FDA and partners conduct additional workshops for enforcement institutions to ensure comprehensive understanding of the laws in prosecuting cases related to the killing and domestication of wildlife protected by law.
Meanwhile a groundbreaking awareness initiative was spearheaded by Liberia’s Wildlife Crime Task Force (WCTF) led by the FDA and including members from Interpol, Transnational Organized Crime Unit, Liberia National Police, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ministry of Justice, Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection and Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary.
The WCTF is a part of Liberia’s Law Enforcement Sub-Committee under the Species Working Group of Liberia with the aim of effecting the enforcement of Liberia’s Wildlife Conservation and Protected Area Management Law of 2016.
This law is designed to protect Liberia’s unique and greatly threatened wildlife and other Illegal activities such as poaching, bush meat consumption and the pet trade which are decimating the country’s wildlife and natural environment.
Currently, awareness surrounding the law is limited, enforcement is also lacking and hunting activities are uncontrolled and unregulated.
The illegal trade of live animals and their parts is rapidly growing locally and internationally, putting threatened species such as the western chimpanzee, pangolin, forest elephant and several species of parrots on the brink of extinction.