The head of delegation of the European Union (EU) to Liberia, Ambassador Laurent Delahousse has pledged the EU and member states commitment to continue their support towards the Liberian Forestry sector.
He said, “I see with satisfaction that we are experiencing at present a good momentum for the forest; it is important to take advantage of it and to join our efforts. The opportunity for carbon markets is probably what is driving the attention of many stakeholders and it must inevitably call for a coherent political will and action.”
“The European Union and its Member States represented in Liberia have decided to act together, through a Team Europe Initiative, to support VPA implementation and the forest sector. Sweden, France and Germany are joining their efforts to those of the EU Delegation. So does the United Kingdom, through their Multi-stakeholder Forestry Governance and Accountability Project MFGAP,” the EU envoy asserted.
Speaking at the closed of the 10th Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) of the Voluntary Partnership agreement (VPA) on Forestry, Ambassador Delahousse explained that the VPA implementation process contributes to the EU’s Global Gateway approach by serving the green transition, promoting sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity protection, securing supply chains and accelerating digitalization, sustainable growth and decent jobs creation.
According to him, the VPA process is an important part of the EU and other member states flagship support to forests and conservation, and maintained, “our colleagues in Brussels see the goal of Liberia-VPA FLEGT licenses as a ‘golden nugget’, an emblematic result for this flagship process.”
The EU diploma revealed, “So, together with our Team Europe partners and in coordination with other donors, we will increase our support to the VPA implementation process. First, through the EU FLEGT program implemented by the French Development Agency AFD which is supporting this event.”
“And second, through a new 15 million euro / 16 million US dollar national program on forestry and biodiversity that includes significant support to VPA implementation by the European Forest Institute EFI,” he added.
Commenting on the new EU regulation on Deforestation, Ambassador indicated, “Legality, traceability, zero-deforestation and sustainability are increasingly becoming requirements for trade in commodities and are no longer limited to timber.”
He explained that is the case for the new EU regulation to limit deforestation and degradation caused by production of commodities, including timber, rubber, palm oil and cocoa, which were published last week.
The EU Head of Delegation further noted that for countries like Liberia that export several of these commodities to the EU, it is of strategic importance to have an operational system to verify the legality of timber, which can also be seen as a precedent for other sectors.
Elaborating on the JIC agenda, Delahousse mentioned, “Progress on reviewing the legality matrix to include timber from community forests is an important objective for this JIC. We have worked towards this objective for some years already and I would like to thank all those who have contributed.
“While this review process is ongoing, we should be clear that the legality of timber from community forests needs to be assured already. The integration of new regulations on community forestry into the legality matrix is not a pre-requisite for enforcement of these laws, but it is nevertheless an important exercise and a priority for the EU.
“And I am confident that this 10th session of the JIC will allow us to move forward on the many subjects which are identified in the agenda because the JIC isn’t a place for judgments; its role is to guide the implementation of the VPA, to allow for dialogue, to monitor progress and, informed by our respective experience, to identify ways to mitigate possible problems and identify how to move forward,” he added.
