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contributing significantly to the G.D.P. while simultaneously
creating employment - was the main reason why the Liberian
Government in 1973 stipulated that more timber be processed
locally. In that year it introduced a regulation which required
that timber companies process locally:
(a) 20 percent of its timber harvest in 1973,
(b) 40 percent of its timber harvest in 1974,
(c) 60 percent of its timber harvest in 1975,
(d) 80 percent of its timber harvest in 1976, and
(e) 100 percent of its timber harvest in 1977.
Although this regulation did result in the establishment of a
number of wood processing plants the majority of the logging
companies failed to meet the 1973 and 1974 requirements to
process 20 and 40 per cent respectively of their production in
Liberia (48). The share of round logs in the total production
was 85 and 69 per cent respectively in these two years. In
subsequent years the companies - in general - may be assumed to
have continued to fail to meet these obligations though detailed
figures for the other three years are not available. However,
production of round logs for the Fiscal Year 1978/1979 (July 1,
1978 - June 30, 1979) was estimated at 774,600 cubic metres of
which 309,400 cubic metres were exported, i.e. 40 per cent (49).
It is noteworthy that the Liberian Government failed and
continues to fail to compel the logging companies to comply
with these legal requirements. The interest of high ranking
government officials and political leaders in most of the
logging companies partly explains this continued failure which
in this instance shows unwillingness rather than incapability
on the part of the Tolbert Administration.
Timber Exports
Exports of logs and sawn timber valued about $ 600,000 in 1967
but increased rapidly afterwards. In 1970 and 1971 timber was
Liberia's third most important export item, after iron ore
(number one) and rubber (number two) which left the country
virtually unprocessed too. Until 1975 the exports of sawn timber
were insignificant, indicating the strong concentration on logs
for exports as opposed to the processing of lumber in Liberia
(see Table 23).
Total exports of logs and lumber amounted to $ 5.8 million in
1970. The sharp rise in the value of timber exports from $ 8.2
million in 1972 to $ 16.6 million in 1973 was mainly the result
of high prices. The favourable conditions on the international
market, the attractive investment climate in Liberia, the
depletion of forest resources in neighbouring countries and the
improvement of Liberia's infrastructure, combined with a better
knowledge of the country's timber potential all contributed to