Monrovia, Liberia – A gender training session has been held in five counties by the European Union-funded Leh Go Green initiative with the goal of empowering women, youth, and marginalized groups in sustainable forest management. The training, which took place in Bopolu and Zwedru, demonstrates the project’s dedication to incorporating gender equality into community livelihoods and natural resource governance.
The Leh Go Green initiative acknowledges women, youth, and vulnerable groups as important partners and aims to strengthen forest-based livelihoods and sustainable management in the Gola and Grebo-Krahn ecosystems. However, their involvement in forest governance and livelihood options, such as agroforestry, beekeeping, and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), is still restricted by persistent gender disparities.
“This training is a direct response to the challenges we’ve observed in the field. Women’s limited influence in decision making and restrictive social norms can undermine the effectiveness of conservation efforts. Our goal is to equip community members with the tools to not only identify these gaps but actively dismantle them, ensuring that forest management benefits are shared equitably,” said Chrystal-Angel Wardlow, Gender Specialist for the Leh Go Green project.
26 people attended the session, including members of the Community Forest Management Body (CFMB) from Lofa, Grand Gedeh, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, and River Gee Counties, as well as youth representatives and both male and female forest users.
The training focused on four core areas:
• Increasing understanding of gender roles and their impact on access to forest resources
• Building capacity to identify and address gender gaps in community forest governance
• Strengthening gender accountability mechanisms and identifying community gender focal points
• Promoting women’s leadership in community enterprises, forest user groups, and Community Conservation Agreement (CCA) structures
Wardlow emphasized the long-term importance of embedding gender accountability into local forest governance systems. “By empowering community members to monitor and report gender results, we are building a sustainable framework for change that extends far beyond a single training session. We are moving from awareness to concrete action.”
The Leh Go Green project seeks to improve agroforestry productivity, strengthen Community Conservation Agreements, and guarantee the long-term sustainability of conservation outcomes in Liberia’s vital forest landscapes by investing in the leadership and economic inclusion of women and marginalized groups.
Reported by: Naneka A. Hoffman
