Liberian CSOs to Launch Nat’l Network for Indigenous People and Local Communities  

Press release

Monrovia, August 24, 2025-Liberian Civic Society Organizations, led by Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SESDev) will on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, launch the country’s chapter of The Alliance for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities for Conservation in Africa (AICA). The launch comes following a month-long planning.

AICA is a Pan-African umbrella organization formed to amplify the collective voice, agency, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Local Communities (LCs) in conservation efforts across Africa.

The launch will focus on effort to mobilizing stakeholders, build awareness, and initiate a process to formalize Liberia’s role in this transformative movement.

Among others, the objectives include, introducing AICA to Liberia’s conservation stakeholders, align stakeholders to the Kigali Call to Action, IUCN African Protected Areas Congress (APAC) IPLC declaration, Namibia communique and AICA strategy, launch Liberia’s national AICA network and drive membership registration and awareness.

Expected outcomes include increased visibility of AICA’s mission and goals, formal inauguration of the AICA Liberia National network, collect recommendations from stakeholders for the growth of AICA Liberia and strengthened collaboration across donors, government and IPLC organizations.

This national launch event will bring together at least fifty (50) key stakeholders committed to advancing rights-based conservation and sustainable development across the country, including: national and international conservation NGOs, Conservation CSOs and CBOs, Government agencies aligned with conservation and land issues, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and media houses and journalists engaged in environmental reporting.

AICA Secretariat members and Regional Focal Point for West Africa will also participate in the event. The of launch of the national networks of AICA is to feed into the West Africa regional network and that of the Alliance to implement AICA’s strategy and by extension the Kigali call to action and the Namibia communique.

In Liberia, SESDev has been the first organization working alongside other African CSOs from birth of the AICA in Kigali. SESDev was chosen to be the national focal point for Liberia during a strategy planning meeting in Nairobi in 2022 before the Namibia congress. “I was nominated as a West African representative on the Executive Committee for AICA after a high-level meeting in Maputo to review the governance structure of AICA”, said Mina, head of SESDev.

Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL), Chief Officers of the Salayea and Gba Community Forest Management Bodies and a representative of the Forestry Development Authority also participated in the first congress of AICA in Namibia.

Despite Liberian CSOs, represented by SESDev have played pivotal roles since AICA’s inception, the country has yet to formally establish a national network that aligns with AICA’s strategic vision and feeds into the West Africa IPLCs Network.

Hence, SESDev, Green Landscapes Initiatives (GLI), Foundation for Community Initiative (FCI), Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL), Champions for Change (CfC) and Liberia Forest Media Watch (LFMW) – all of whom have previously engaged in AICA activities have decided to launch Liberia’s chapter of AICA national network on August 27, 2025.