The_Open_Door_deel1

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In 1977/78 there may have been 40 - 45 timber companies in the
country of which about ten were inactive, the remaining producing
timber. Officially it was reported that 33 firms were engaged in
forestry operations in 1977 (40).
The Administration of the Forestry Sector not only showed a
failure to know even the number of logging companies operating
in the country. It was also incapable of assessing the total
concession area granted for logging operations.
In 1976 it.was reported that a total area of 12,744,067 acres
had been comitted for timber production purposes, divided as
shown in Table 22.
TABLE 22
TOTAL CONCESSION AREA GRANTED BOR LOGGING OPERATIONS (1976)
(in acres)
Acres
Total under Timber Concessions 8,685,267
Option Areas for Timber Concessions 1,862,500
Other Areas in Use 696,500
Estimated Timber land under Agricultural
Development Contract etc. 1,500,000
GRAND TOTAL 12,744,067
Source: Justification of the Budget of the Forestry Development
Authority, p. 1.
It is inevitable to arrive at the conclusion that more (timber)
concession area had been given to investors than was available
in the country. First, timber rights under other concession
agreements were not included in this figure of 12.7 million
acres. Secondly, Liberia's total forest area could well be less
than this figure. Thirdly, not all logging companies with timber
exploitation rights might have been included in this estimation.
Hence, a number of conflicts arose between investors/logging companies
chiefly as a result of this overlapping of concession
areas, (see also Chapter 4, note 20),
Total investments of timber concessionaires (their number ranging
from 30 to 50 including the cancelled concession agreements) in
logging and sawmilling equipment were estimated at about $ 50
million in 1976 (42).