News Story: Stakeholders Seek Enforcement of Laws Against Illicit Mining in Liberia

Published by Global News Network Liberia (GNN Liberia)

By Environmental Governance Programme (EGP)

Monrovia, Liberia, July 13, 2022 (GNN LIBERIA)

Stakeholders in the mining sector are calling for enforcing regulations and laws to curb illicit mining, especially by foreigners who encroach on mining communities.

During a training workshop or Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners (ASM) held in Bopulu, Gbarpolu County, on 6-7 July 2022, they recommended capacity support and an increase in the number of rangers in protected areas; proper checks and balances in the sector; increased awareness on new policies and reforms in the mining law; the need to encourage miners to obtain licenses legally and for local leadership to take ownership of the sector by participating in monitoring and reporting on the protection of their environment.

The training on environmental and social safeguards, legal frameworks and promotion of participatory environmental monitoring was organised by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL), the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and supported by joint Swedish Environmental Protection Agency - UNDP Environmental Governance Programme (EGP).

Elders, local leaders and artisanal miners used a newly developed ASM handbook to gain knowledge on driving community stewardship in promoting environmental governance and monitoring in ASM communities and to build upon existing local governance structures that are gender balanced.

“There are horrifying stories of environmental degradation that require the urgent involvement of local government and community structures,” said the President of the Federation of Artisanal Miners of Liberia, Thomas Cassell.

Cassell urged local leaders to help sensitise artisanal miners to abide by the laws put in place by the government and become positive change agents in the conservation of the forests and protection of the environment for future generations.

Participants discussed the effects of deforestation, miners’ rights & obligations, human rights violations, sexual exploitation and abuse in the ASM sector, protection of child rights, the results of mercury, how to obtain an ASM license, good practices of mining, taxes and royalty, and how to protect the environment among others.

ASM has become an important sector for the government and its people. It provides jobs for more than two hundred thousand (200,000) people, mostly in rural communities. Over the years, the sector has been pruned to mining accidents and other community issues.

“Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining is becoming both a national security issue and a major social problem in the country. Foreigners facilitated by some Liberians are venturing into Liberia’s forests and engaging in illicit mining activities that would eventually endanger the lives and livelihoods of poor populations if the government does not enforce regulations,” Assistant Mines and Energy Minister Johnson Willabo stated at the training.

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Learn more:

ASM Handbook

Liberia's user-friendly ASM Handbook guides miners and host communities about regulations, norms, and practical steps to improve health, safety, and environmental and human rights protection in ASM. It was developed in partnership with regulatory authorities and agencies in Liberia, including the EPA and MME, and launched during a multi-stakeholder workshop held on 26 August 2021 in Bomi County.

“The Handbook, the first of its kind in Liberia, is expected to provide miners with much-needed guidance and support for understanding safe mining practices and regulations around mining. This will help promote respect for human rights and environmental protection”, explains Abraham Tumbey, EGP Focal Point in UNDP Liberia.

Read the Handbook

News Story: Stakeholders Seek Enforcement of Laws Against Illicit Mining in Liberia

Key Messages from the ASM Learning Hub

There is growing interest in improving the governance of ASM activities, which is perceived as necessary for the orderly development of this part of the mining sector and to enhance its social and environmental performance. We have several decades of experience with different attempts to achieve successful ASM governance. However, as contexts differ –within countries and regions - there is no general ‘best practice’ that can be identified, but rather several different possible practices and approaches. It is also essential to understand the multiple attempts and methods that could have been more effective.
The different approaches how to managing the ASM sector can be understood as ranging from (i) a Laissez-faire approach, with limited intervention by the State, which is based on the rationale that ASM miners are mainly driven by poverty and have a right to earn a livelihood, and that their low level of mechanisation may not cause widespread environmental harm; (ii) Full ASM support, adopted by a growing number of countries that developed special regulations and provisions for the ASM sector, aiming to support the sector to develop further, but in a more orderly fashion; and (iii) Equal treatment, in countries where small mining operators are subject to the exact regulatory requirements and provisions as large mining operations.
The ASM sector is overall not well monitored. Still, a recent estimate suggests that some 40 million people were directly engaged in the sector in 2017, with around 150 million depending on ASM for their income and livelihoods across 80 countries in the Global South. ASM is also a significant producer of critical transition minerals needed for manufacturing solar panels and batteries for electric cars and popular electronic products like laptops and phones. This sector is widely expected to grow in the coming years and decades.