YOUTH GLOW INC.
Programme Step 2 of 4 · Protect
Forests that pay to stay standing.
We help communities secure their forests through Community Forest Management Agreements, and protect forests, rivers, wetlands and wildlife through Community Conservation Agreements, always after free, prior and informed consent.
The project
Community Land, Water and Forest Conservation
Once disputes are settled, communities secure legal rights to their forests and agree together how to protect them. Protection is what makes the skills that follow pay.
- Free, prior and informed consent in every community
- Support through the Forestry Development Authority’s community forest steps
- Conservation agreements with no-clear zones and use zones
- Trained forest guards and community forest bodies
Technology: GPS and drone mapping of community forests, and free satellite alerts, such as Global Forest Watch, to spot clearing.
Why it matters
Liberia holds about 6.6 million hectares of forest, roughly 43% of what remains of West Africa’s Upper Guinean forest.
The East Nimba Nature Reserve is co-managed with the Sehyi, Gba and Zor communities under an agreement renewed in 2022, yet it still faces encroachment, poaching and illegal chainsaw logging.
Liberia lost about 315,000 hectares of humid primary forest between 2002 and 2022, one of the ten largest increases in forest loss worldwide in 2022.
In Liberia's lowland forests, 858 km² was lost inside protected areas between 2000 and 2019, mostly to shifting agriculture. Parks alone are not enough; communities must benefit.
In April 2026 the Ministry of Mines sent a team to Tappita, Nimba, after reports of gold, as county authorities moved to stop unregulated mining.
In March 2026 the Forestry Development Authority and UNDP validated a national guide for Community Conservation Agreements, the tool our Protect step uses.
Sources: Local Voices Liberia fact-check of published research; FrontPageAfrica, December 2022; Global Forest Watch via AllAfrica, July 2023; Erazo-Mera et al., Environmental Conservation, 2024; AllAfrica, April 2026; UNDP Liberia, March 2026.
Results so far
Verified. In 2026, after free, prior and informed consent, Zortarpa’s leaders pledged more than 600 acres of community forest for conservation (UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme).
Where we aim to be by 2031
Indicative targets. Each project confirms its own after a baseline survey.
Aligned with Liberia’s goals
- AAID 2025–2029
- Environmental Sustainability Pillar: protect biodiversity and manage natural resources responsibly
- Community Rights Law 2009
- Community forests and management agreements, led by the Forestry Development Authority
- NDC 3.0
- Legal recognition of community land and resource rights by 2035
Indicators we track
- SDG 15.1.1 / 15.2.1
- Forest area and progress to sustainable forest management
- SDG 1.4.2
- Adults with secure, recognised land tenure rights
- SDG 6.6.1
- Change in extent of water-related ecosystems
- GEF CI 4.1
- Landscapes under improved management for biodiversity
- Global Forest Watch
- Tree cover loss alerts in community forests
Fund the Protect step.
Each PPSS step can be funded on its own as a project, or as part of the full programme.