Sime Darby oil palm and rubber plantation in Grand Cape Mount ...

Sime Darby oil palm and rubber plantation in Grand Cape Mount county, Liberia
as the Vai) when compared with the wider distribution of benefits, the constitutional principle
of equality would also protect that group from discrimination of this nature.
The Constitution also provides for the inalienable right to possessing and protecting
property. 22 All persons have the right to own property alone or in association with others,
however only Liberian citizens have the right to own real property. 23 There is nothing in the
wording of these rights that precludes collective property rights over customary lands. The
Constitution does provide for expropriation of land on public purpose grounds (sometimes
referred to as ‘eminent domain’), however in such cases appropriate procedural safeguards
must be observed: reasons must be given for the expropriation; just compensation must be
promptly paid; expropriation may be freely challenged in the courts without penalty; and the
former owner has first refusal to re-acquire the property if public use ceases. 24
Implementation of the constitutional principles of community use of natural resources is
included in the national laws on environmental protection. The Environmental Protection
Agency Act (2002) provides that ‘[e]very person in Liberia has the right to a clean and healthy
environment and a duty to take all appropriate measures to protect and enhance it’. 25 The
Environmental Protection Act (2002) also sets out a number of key principles for
environmental management. 26 The principles most relevant to the customary rights of
communities include:
Ensuring compliance with international environmental treaties, which implies observance
of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) including Articles 8(j) and 10(c)
under which the State of Liberia is obliged to respect and protect traditional lifestyles and
customary sustainable use of biological resources by local and indigenous communities;
Ensuring respect for the cultural and spiritual; and,
‘Encouraging and ensuring maximum participation by the people of Liberia in the
management and decision making processes of the environment and natural resources’,
echoing Article 7 of the Constitution (as outlined above).
These principles are reflected in the key functions of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) which is responsible for ensuring proper environmental management and protection.
These functions include implementing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process;
preserving the historic, cultural and spiritual values of natural resource heritage; enhancing
indigenous resource use in consultation with indigenous authority, and ensuring public
participation in decision making on the sustainable management of the environment. 27
Communities derive a number of substantive and procedural rights from the national law
relating to the EIA process. Liberia’s environmental laws have set forth a procedure for
public participation and involvement in the approval or rejection of development projects.
The Environment Protection Act specifically highlights the importance of public participation
and seeks to encourage and ensure maximum participation in the management and decisionmaking
processes including exposure to agency information. 28 Before a project commences,
the project facilitator must submit an EIA to the EPA. The EIA requirement is a multi-stage
process. This process is mandated in sections 6 to 30 of the Environment Protection Act. If
carried out correctly, the EIA process is capable of facilitating significant public
participation.
Large-scale mono-crop projects such as Sime Darby’s cannot commence without having
fulfilled the requirements of the EIA process, which if approved by the EPA result in award
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