Roles of Non-Governmental Organizations in the Management of the Lake Piso Wetland and the Provision of Livelihood for Community Dwellers

At the Conservation International (CI) priority-setting workshop in Ghana in December 1999, the Upper Guinean Rainforest (UGR) was the core issue for discussion. The workshop was aimed at identifying priority conservation sites in the UGR. The Lake Piso Wetland was one of the sites in Liberia identified as “Hot Spots” of conservation importance. Later in January 2002, it was one of the areas recommended in the Conservation International-Government of Liberia Memorandum of Understanding for setting up a protected area network in the country. Lake Piso Wetland contains significant level of biodiversity and the ecosystems are among the most important ones in West Africa and the Upper Guinea Rainforest region. Unfortunately this important ecological site has not gained protected area status because according to the Liberia Government ‘lack of fund’. Conservation works at the site are carried out by NGOs.

To demonstrate the roles of NGOs in conserving the site and improving the livelihood of the people around the site, local and international non-governmental organizations have taken the read of state agencies tasked with the legal responsibility forthe management of the site, but do not have the required money/ resources to carryout series of activities including campaigning for the gazetting of this natural gift as a protected area, creating awareness on the site and its biodiversity, and provision of livelihood and income generation for community dwellers, conducting periodic monitoring and documenting findings and bUilding capacity in biodiversity identification with focus in plants mammals and birds.

Today, the site contained variety of NGOs that deal with questions ranging from environmental education, medical, education, monitoring and law suits. Since 1983, it has been the non-governmental organizations that have consistently drawn attention to specific environmental issues, and initiated action to develop peoples’ awareness of their role in determining their environment.