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UN lifts 3 year ban on Liberian timber exports

  • 14/01/2007

The Liberian government has implemented new legislation on logging, after the un Security Council lifted its three-year-long ban on the country's timber exports in October 2006.

The council had imposed the ban in July 2003, describing Liberia's logging industry as a threat to peace and security. The country's former president Charles Taylor had allegedly used timber revenues to fuel armed conflict in Sierra Leone and Liberia, the council had noted. At the time, timber exports constituted more than 50 per cent of the country's export earnings. The ban was lifted after the country elected a new government. The council is, however, yet to lift sanctions on diamond exports.

The new legislation on logging divides forests into three categories: protected forests, forests for community timber activities and commercial logging concessions. It compels logging companies to provide public disclosure of their revenue and ensures that the revenue benefits local communities.

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