The European Union–funded Leh Go Green project has conducted a gender training workshop designed to empower women, youth, and marginalized groups in sustainable forest management across five counties.
Held in Bopolu and Zwedru, the training underscores the project’s commitment to integrating gender equality into natural resource governance and community livelihoods.
The Leh Go Green project focused on strengthening forest-based livelihoods and sustainable management in the Gola and Grebo-Krahn landscapes, recognizes women, youth, and vulnerable groups as crucial stakeholders. Yet, persistent gender gaps continue to limit their participation in forest governance and livelihood opportunities including agroforestry, beekeeping, and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).
“This training is a direct response to the challenges we’ve observed in the field. Women’s limited influence in decisionmaking 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.
The workshop convened 26 participants, including women and men forest users, youth representatives, and Community Forest Management Body (CFMB) members from Lofa, Grand Gedeh, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, and River Gee Counties.
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.”
By investing in the leadership and economic inclusion of women and marginalized groups, the Leh Go Green project aims to strengthen Community Conservation Agreements, enhance agroforestry productivity, and ensure the long-term sustainability of conservation outcomes in Liberia’s critical forest landscapes.
