Monrovia, May 28 -- A performance audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) on the management of community forests in Liberia from fiscal years 2018 to 2023 has revealed widespread mismanagement and misappropriation of community forest resources by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and community forest management leaderships.

Liberia currently has 53 community forest areas covering approximately 1,227,231 hectares, representing 18.5% of the country's total 6.6 million hectares of forest. The Government of Liberia introduced the Community Forest Management Agreement (CFMA) in 2001 to empower communities and promote sustainable forest management through the direct involvement of local leadership and residents.

Howev...