An investigation by several international NGOs has found that a Malaysian company based in Sarawak was allegedly involved in the use of illegal logging permits which could clear 40 percent of forest in Liberia, a developing country in West Africa.

According to a statement jointly issued by Global Witness, Save My Future Foundation and Sustainable Development Institute, Atlantic Resources, a logging company linked to Malaysian timber giant Samling, controls a huge area of Liberia’s forest.

Perkapalan Damai Timar (PDT), which has a 60 percent in Atlantic Resources, also holds a five percent shareholding in Samling Global. PDT shares a director with Samling Global.

The three NGOs claimed that Atlantic Resources controls eight percent of Liberia’s land area despite owing millions in back taxes, through a new form of logging contract dubbed Private Use Permits, which was described by the groups as “secretive and often illegal logging permits”.

“People being defrauded out of their forest rights at this speed and scale is worrying in itself. When you look at who the forests have been given to, it gets even more alarming.

“Giving your forests to companies like that is not a sustainable investment,” said Jonathan Gant of Global Witness.

They found out that a quarter of Liberia’s total landmass has been granted to logging companies in just two years, following an explosion in the use of Private Use Permits.

“These new logging contracts now cover 40 percent of Liberia’s forests and almost half of Liberia’s best intact forests.

“They have given companies linked to notorious Malaysian logging giant Samling unparalleled access to some of Liberia’s most pristine forests. Samling and its subsidiaries have been involved in numerous cases of illegal logging in countries around the world, from Cambodia to Guyana to Papua New Guinea,” read the statement.

Designed to allow private land owners to cut trees on their property, Private Use Permits are being used by companies to avoid Liberia’s carefully-crafted forest laws and regulations.

Companies holding these permits are not required to log sustainably and pay little in compensation to either the Liberian government or the people who own the forests for the right to export valuable tropical timber, they claimed.

“Some communities will receive less than one percent of their timber’s value, while very little revenue will reach state coffers.

“Since the end of Liberia’s war we have worked with the government and international partners like the United States, the European Union and the World Bank to ensure the Liberian people get sustainable benefits from their forests.

‘Undermining reform efforts’

“These Private Use Permits severely undermine these reform efforts,” said Robert Nyahn of Save My Future Foundation.

Their investigations also discovered:

  • Some documents justifying the permits, including at least one of the private land deeds necessary for the permits to be legal, have been forged.
  • People who own and live in concession areas were not properly consulted and were not able to change key contractual terms when told to sign their forests away. As a result communities will receive only a tiny proportion of logging revenues.
  • Companies and officials within the government’s Forestry Development Authority have ignored a  moratorium placed on Private Use Permits in February of this year by allowing new permits to begin operating.
Global Witness had written to Samling to request comment regarding these issues on Aug 23, but the company had provided no response as of Aug 30.

Malaysiakini has also emailed Samling for a response.