Reflection 2- Gathering Community Perception of Wetlands

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. 

Reflective Blog 1

I arrived in Liberia on June 5, 2018 and was happy to be back home with my family after a year of being away. I started work on June 7 and have been working for about a week. My host supervisor is currently in Sweden attending a meeting on behalf of the Liberia Land Authority and is expected back in the country by next week. I began my work with a meeting with the Chairman of my host organization, to inform on my placement and to solicit the support of the LLA. My meeting with him also provided the opportunity to get updates on recent efforts made by the Government to protect wetlands in Liberia. With the government headed by a new President, I was interested in the new administration’s priorities for the environment – no one seemed to be very sure because the new administration has only been in power for about four months. However, I was informed that new guidelines and regulations on wetlands beachfront and waterways is being drafted by the LLA and is expected to be completed within the next month. Hopefully, the Government overall policy framework, the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PADP) also currently being developed will clearly articulate priority interventions on environmental conservation, protecting wetlands and climate change. I am delighted that I will be making meaningful contributions to this national effort.

Engaging Communities in the Marshall Reserve to Protect Coastal Wetlands

As a young child growing up in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, I always enjoyed the beauty of the clean, flowing water of the of the Mesurado River as we drove across the Gabriel Tucker Bridge that linked that capital city to the Bushrod Island. The Mesurado River hosts the Providence Island, which is a site of historical and cultural significance in the history of Liberia because it was the first place that freed slaves from the United States of America settled when they landed on January 1, 1822.