Over the past few weeks, I have been working with the Liberia Land Authority to help strengthen government’s efforts to improve coastal wetland management in Liberia. Some of my activities have included working in the office in Monrovia, attending meetings on behalf of the Land Authority with land and environmental stakeholders and working with communities in the Marshall Reserve in Marshall City, Margibi County, about 48.7 km from the capital city.
Since the beginning of the Liberian civil war in 1990, coastal wetlands have gradually been encroached upon, degraded and destroyed by the growing population in and around coastal urban areas. This situation has overwhelmed the government of Liberia with challenges of insufficient funding, lack of enforcement, proper policies and regulations to protect wetlands in the country.
Most people that live around wetlands rely on these areas for resources such as food, building materials and other sources of livelihood. I hope to use my work in Marshall as a case study to gain better understanding of local residents of the Marshall Reserve perspectives on the role of wetlands and their views as to what activities are causing the greatest destruction. Understanding the perception and attitude of people in wetland areas is very important for protecting these important ecosystem and the biodiversity they support.
As part of my deliverables, I have identified and held one inception meeting with the city mayor, community leaders, and the head of the fishermen, women and youth groups to get their buy-in and participation for the implementation of the project in their city. Following my first meeting with the leaders and some of the key respondents, I had to redesign the questionnaires I previously developed given that the majority of community residents has little or no formal education. I have also developed some indicators that will measure a ‘signal of change’ because this project is short term and it would be difficult to measure the impact of the project in the short run.In addition, I have conducted interviews with a randomly selected households and community members to gather information on their perceptions, perspectives and attitude towards wetlands/protected areas and what might affect their behavior towards wetlands. The interviews are quite exciting, and I am learning much from the diverse backgrounds of the respondents. Even more interesting, I was able to put together a small team of three people who have worked in several surveys in Liberia that are helping to conduct interviews. It is also fun in the field especially given the rainy season in Liberia and somedays the rains are quite heavy. 
This morning it was very difficult to drive from Monrovia to Marshall City because there was flooding in major places in Monrovia and its environs. The main boulevard leading to the outskirts of the city was flooded because of heavy rains and because some structures had been constructed in the water way, many people, including me, were stuck in traffic for hours.
This weekend, I will be holding focus group meetings with various stakeholder groups because I have been advised that it is the most appropriate time to meet with them (Fishermen, charcoal producers, women and youth groups). My time in the communities is providing me the opportunity to have field experience and use the skills I acquired in class over the past year. I believe my skills at communicating with diverse people have improved especially because most members of the community have little or no formal education but seem quite interested in participating in survey and the planned focus group meetings to provide me with information to the best of their ability that can be useful. As my first field-based experience as an environmental professional, I am translating theory into practice. This work is allowing me to appreciate some of the challenges of sustaining livelihood while at the same time protecting the environment and biodiversity. The Marshall Reserve is under threat from both human activities and climate change and measures taken to protect coastal wetlands will come into conflict with the needs of poor communities who are highly dependent on the wetlands for survival.
At the end of my placement in the next two weeks, I will organize a town hall meeting to present findings to the communities and I will also hold a PowerPoint presentation to present same to the Liberia Land Authority, Environmental Protection Agency and other partners.
The Nelson Institute: Environmental Conservation Leadership Projects 