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Regulation was published on May 17, 2017. It reflects and expands on the legal framework provided in the Community Rights Law of 2009, which is intended to empower communities located in or around forests to access, manage, use and benefit from forest resources to sustain their livelihoods and pursue economic development. By establishing rules and procedures, the Amended CRL Regulation has the objective of (i) facilitating implementation of the CRL, (ii) clarifying rights, roles and duties of the FDA and communities engaged in community forestry programs, (iii) establishing rules and procedures to enable communities to exercise ownership of community forests, and to access, manage, use and benefit from the forest resources, and (iv) ensuring sustainable management of forest resources within community forests.
The Amended CRL Regulation requires conformity of all forestry programs managed by communities to the NFRL, CRL, statutes of Liberia, international conventions and treaties ratified by Liberia and Regulations and policies adopted by the FDA. It provides procedures for approval of an Authorized Forest Community and for executing and terminating Community Forest Management Agreements. It further sets up the governance structures of Authorized Community Forests, including roles, responsibilities, elections, tenures, meetings, etc. of the Community Assembly (the highest decision-making body of the Authorized Forest Community) and the Community Forest Management Body (the manager of the day-to-day activities pertaining to the community forest).
The Amended CRL Regulation then details the kinds of commercial contracts that an Authorized Forest Community may negotiate and guidelines for fiscal and other benefits derived from community forests.