Birdlife Partner – The Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL)

The Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL) is Birdlife’s partner in the African-Eurasian Flyway (AEF) project in Liberia and is the country’s oldest NGO dedicated to promoting the conservation of the nation’s natural resources and biodiversity.  

The AEF stretches from the Arctic to southern Africa and is a route used by hundreds of millions of migratory birds each year, as well as many globally threatened resident species. This critical corridor is under pressure from habitat loss, degradation, illegal hunting, and climate change. Losing these places would have serious consequences for the birds that rely on them to rest, refuel, and breed. Protecting it requires collaboration across borders, knowledge-sharing, and coordinated action. Sierra Leone and Liberia, at the heart of the flyway, are especially important for forest conservation. 

ERF’s grant is supporting SCNL efforts to expand its Forest Communities Livelihood Programme (FCLP) across the 350,000-hectare Greater Gola Landscape, helping communities adopt sustainable practices that protect forests while supporting local wellbeing. These include ‘forest-friendly’ livelihood initiatives such as shade-grown cocoa, groundnuts, swamp rice, honey production, and paid community patrolling of protected areas. This will strengthen the protection of both Protected Areas and Community Forests, securing biodiversity and benefiting local people.