About Five hours south of the Liberian capital Monrovia is Rivercess County. It is a remote, sparsely populated place of thatched roofs and flat countryside that sits just above sea level, its villages are surrounded by low-level forest and bush.
Almost half the county’s virgin rainforest has been given over to logging companies. The impact of this has been to make land scarce for communities who rely on it to feed themselves. This in turn has led increasing numbers of land conflicts both within and between communities.
Namati and its Liberian partner, the Sustainable Development Institute, have been active in Rivercess, supporting communities to agree on how they share and govern their community land and how they can settle disputes with neighboring communities.
