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Clarifying the status of communal customary property rights is an essential precondition for the successfulformulation of an ASDM Policy as it forms the basis of any subsequent rights.Key challenges that need to be addressed in a Framework Policy 14• Appropriate laws and regulations: There are no clear laws and regulations, or appropriatemechanisms for miners to assert their rights or comply with their obligations. Licensing is expensiveand the application process complicated.• Access to information: Artisanal miners have little education and knowledge about their rights andobligations.• Representation: Participation in decision making is limited, and there is no significantrepresentation by a union or federation to promote miners’ interests in negotiations with governmentand other stakeholders on issues which affect them on the regional or national level.• Security of tenure: Claims are often used for small-scale subsistence farming. If security of tenure isuncertain, livelihood is at stake at multiple levels. Inaccurate boundaries lead to disputes and conflictwith other competing land users. Uncertainty about the status of customary land rights poses a threatthat a mining site will become inaccessible. Because customary land rights are not recognized byGOL, other miners or concessionaires could prevent access to a mining site without miners’knowledge or consent.• Geological information and systematic planning: No access to accurate or verifiable geologicalinformation to plan mining activities step by step, or to manage risks and investments. Extraction isinefficient because of rudimentary methods and lack of geological information.• Technical needs: A largely unskilled labor force uses primitive, labor-intensive methods to identifyand mine alluvial deposits. Conditions seldom meet minimum health and safety standards. No accessto technical assistance or modernizations. Uncertainty about which methods are allowed in licensecategory.• Remote natural environment: Mining locations are remote and scattered. Access roads to claimsare non-existent or in poor shape. Informal housing does not provide for basic sanitation or healthneeds.• Informality and Organization: Small margins of profit and no long-term planning. No formalemployment agreements between miners and diggers. Diggers usually work for subsistence (food)and a promised minimal share of any finds. Risk of illegality, contributing to tenure insecurity. Noformal organization and representation.• Planning, capital, or access to financing: Lack of business knowledge. Lending practices fromsupporters, brokers, and dealers proliferate cycle of poverty. Miners often cannot even afford basictools. No access to financing to scale-up production if profitable ore body is found. Claims areusually on communal property, which cannot be used as collateral to obtain financing. Risk profile ishigh, so commercial lenders will not assume the risk.• Marketing: Marketing is largely beyond miners’ control. Miners rely on brokers and dealers tomarket their diamonds. Lack of knowledge to negotiate fair prices for their diamonds because theydo not know the value.• Working conditions: Poor living conditions, long hours, and lack of proper food, hygiene, andsanitation all contribute to high health and safety risks. Uncertainty about geological potential andsmall margin of profit means minimum wages cannot be paid.14Gathered from PRADD field studies and material, stakeholder consultations, Artisanal Mining Policies of other countries, and Global Reporton Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G00723.pdf.14 PRADD LIBERIA: A REVIEW OF THE LEGAL, REGULATORY AND POLICY FRAMEWORKGOVERNING ARTISANAL DIAMOND MINING IN LIBERIA
5.2 INTEGRATE ASDM INTO A BROADER NATURAL RESOURCEMANAGEMENT POLICYThe Environmental Policy aims to achieve a synthesized strategy for natural resource management, butASDM is not integrated into a larger national natural resource policy framework. As is the case for theMineral Policy, the principles in the Environmental Policy need to be integrated into intersecting bodies oflaw to have any force or effect. Principles in the Environmental Policy in many instances are phrased inabsolute terms and are contradictory to sector-specific legislation and current enforcement practices, such asthe requirement for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).Regulatory gaps and inconsistencies in the management strategies of different resource sectors cause conflictbetween ASDM and other natural resource users. The Environmental Protection Agency Act mandates thecreation of a National Environmental Action Plan. With a clear strategy and regulatory framework for theASDM sector, the relationship between ASDM and other land users and uses can be regulated. Section 1.4 ofthe Environmental Policy states issues that specifically need to be harmonized:(a) Water Resources;(b) Forestry and Wildlife;(c) Land Management/Resources;(d) Mining;(e) Marine and Coastal Ecosystems;(f) Solid and Liquid Waste, and Industrial Waste;(g) Human Settlements;(h) Hazardous Chemicals;(i) Air and Noise Pollution;(j) Cultural heritage and Tribal Reserves; and(k) Public Education and AwarenessThrough proper harmonization and cross-cutting integration, the GOL will create policy consistency andlegal certainty, and promote security of tenure for ASDMs 15 (e.g., rules for water allocation and standards fordifferent sectors and uses, ‘no-go’ zones and demarcation of development sites, standardized surveyingmethods, environmental standards for soil and water).This recommendation will consist of policy, legal, and regulatory components: a policy component to create astrategy and principles for integration and coordination; a legal component to mandate cooperation andauthority and to create rights and responsibilities; and a regulatory component to stipulate procedures. Ideallythis process should take place in cooperation with the Land Commission of Liberia.5.3 ESTABLISH CLEAR LAND USE PRIORITIESIn a typical rural Liberian setting, multiple community members utilize the land for various subsistenceactivities: farmers plant and work their fields of cassava, coca, palm oil, and rice, while others hunt, fish, orrear animals. Mining takes place amid this community, and all of these actors compete for access to land andwater resources. Without coordination or regard for subsistence activities, mining and mineral explorationlicenses, forest and agricultural concessions are granted on the land. Forty-three (43) percent of land inLiberia is currently subject to concession rights. Gradually, these activities are displacing communities anddepriving them of their sources of livelihood.15The National Environmental Management Act, 107 of 1998 of South Africa could be used as a model to facilitate cooperative governance.PRADD LIBERIA: A REVIEW OF THE LEGAL, REGULATORY AND POLICY FRAMEWORKGOVERNING ARTISANAL DIAMOND MINING IN LIBERIA 15
Page 3: STUDY OFDEVELOPMENTAL STAGE OF CEPH
Page 7: ACRONYMS ANDABBREVIATIONSADMADRASDM
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Page 16 and 17: Liberia is a party to the United Na
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Page 21 and 22: 4.0 INCREASINGREGISTRATION OFARTISA
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Page 47 and 48: Green Advocates Jan.2009. Alluvial
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