Mitigation and Adaptation

Liberia has a unique biodiversity and potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Liberia contains 7.5 million ha of lowland tropical forest, including two important massifs of forest in the southeast (evergreen lowland forest) and in the northwest (semi-deciduous mountainous forest). Altogether, Liberia’s forests constitute 43 percent of the remaining Upper Guinean Forest of West Africa - a global biodiversity hotspot - and cover approximately 69 percent of Liberia’s total land surface as of 2019.

Liberia’s forest and coastal resources are increasingly at risk due to recurrent droughts, rising sea levels, and deforestation. The deforestation rate was estimated at 0.46 percent per year for the period 2005 - 2015. This poses grave consequences for economic development and food security. The unsustainable exploitation of natural resources increasingly demonstrates that Liberia, along with all nations, would benefit by embracing sustainable nature-based solutions.