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Naomi N: Okay, so hello everyone again. I just wanted to say thank you so much for making the time out of your day to come attend this event. So, now that it is 6pm, I know some of the guest speakers have not arrived yet. So, I'm just gonna begin, and I just recently started, recording the meeting as well. So, my name is Naomi, if you did not already know, and I'm currently in Liberia on a 3-month international internship with Empowerment Squared, where we are focused on helping support research on mental health and substance abuse. And as well, in addition to this, we have had the opportunity to focus on our passion projects. And that passion project for myself is this project. So for those of you who do not know about Liberia, Liberia is a country located on the western coast of Africa. And it's actually one of the most forested countries in West Africa, and it is home to so many incredible landscapes, vast tropical forests and rivers, and beautiful ecosystems. So, when I first arrived to Liberia, I really quickly noticed how there are so many environmental issues, such as poor waste management systems, littering, etc. But I also noticed how there is a disconnection between its people and the environment. But Liberia itself is such a beautiful, resilient country, and has gone through so many hardships, such as Ebola, the Civil War. So on top of this, I really noticed how there was also a lot of positive organizations, doing a lot of positive work as well, and that led me to create this podcast to help spread awareness of the positive work these organizations were doing. So today, I have been blessed with numerous guest speakers with various diverse environmental field backgrounds. So, when I was back in high school for myself, when I thought about science, I only knew about medicine, becoming a doctor, and the geosciences and the environmental field was a sector that I really didn't know of how diverse it was. So, that's why today I really wanted to spread awareness of the diverse fields that students could go into. So this episode will be posted on my podcast, Voices Under the Palaver Tree, which can be found across all platforms, Google, Spotify, I also have created my own website. So, before I begin, I would love for the guest speakers to quickly just introduce themselves, what they do for their work, their work experience, and also one environmental issue they would want to spread awareness of. And I really wanted to showcase that to show how diverse the environmental sector is. Yes, so I will just be… I think, the first one… On our… to present will be… One… Rodrigo! And he is my professor back in Canada.

 

Rodrigo Narro Pérez (He/Him/Él) - McMaster University: Okay, thank you, Naomi, and can you just verify that you can hear me alright?

 

Naomi N: Yes, I can hear you alright.

 

Rodrigo Narro Pérez (He/Him/Él) - McMaster University: Okay, thank you, everyone, and thank you for the invitation. I'm going to try to be brief, because I know we got limited time, but my name is Rodrigo Nar Perez. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Earth, Environment, and Society at McMaster University. I've had the privilege of teaching Naomi too many courses, so she knows, I obtained my PhD here at Mac as well.

 

Naomi N: So sorry, Rodrigo, you can go ahead.

 

Rodrigo Narro Pérez (He/Him/Él) - McMaster University: No worries. So I did my PhD actually focused on looking at the effects of climate change in the Gordiera Blanca in northern Peru, and because of the heavy impacts that climate change is having on a lot of areas where we have glaciers, glaciers tend to be the most visual, sort of environmental feature that we see as, you know, as they continue to retreat. And I decided to do that in Peru because I was born in Lima, Peru, but have, you know. But now I spend quite a few years here in Canada. And so my background is on glacial Sedimentology, but a lot of the things that I also do, that Naomi has also heard about, is I'm also the director of Latin American and Latinx Studies here at McMaster, so a lot of my focus is on really thinking about the region as a whole, as it relates to, really, climate change impacts, but really in a very interdisciplinary and holistic way, so I teach a lot of the environmental science courses here at MAC, and I'm happy to talk about, sort of, the role that education has, but really, for me, especially as we're seeing these heat waves, I often think about, you know, where I'm from in the Andes, and many other glaciated areas around the world, the Himalayas, New Zealand. What the impact will be in many communities as climate change is unfortunately causing these glaciers to retreat at such a rapid pace. And with that, I'll let…whoever's next, go.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much for sharing. So for our next guest speaker, that will be… Annika Hillers!

 

Annika Hillers WCF: Hello, everybody. Sorry. So, I'm… my name is Annika, and I'm the County Director of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in Liberia. And I have been working in Liberia for about 15 years. Before that, I was based in Sierra Leone. I mean, where I was based in Sierra Leone before… already moving to Liberia, and I already moved, worked in Liberia before, actually moving here. I've been around West Africa the past… for the past 24 years. So, I'm really, like, a specialist on biodiversity in West Africa and protected area management in West Africa. We obviously are facing a lot of tech challenges, as you mentioned not everybody feels very close to nature in Liberia, but I think, actually, the majority of people do. But the big problem in Liberia is that there is some level of lack of coordination between different sectors, so there's a lot of competition between the mining sector, the logging sector, conservation, agriculture, and very often, the challenge is that people believe that conservation is not actually good for development, is not bringing development, and so we have to prove that it's actually not the case, that conservation also is bringing a lot of development to Liberia. And, the reality is that we as conservationists in Liberia are actually doing everything, because we are working in a lot of remote areas. And so we are working in areas where there are no other NGOs, and basically everybody, including the government, the community people, everybody, believes that conservation needs to do… to do the job of everybody else, so we have to do the job of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, and, so that makes… makes it really interesting. Because we have a big variety of activities that we are doing, but, it's also, yeah, sometimes a little bit difficult. And the one thing that I really enjoy in Liberia is that you can do a lot of work with the women here. So, Liberian women are very strong. And they are also very much interested in conservation issues and in forestry. And it's something that is different from the other countries. I've been working in West Africa, and so it's something I really enjoy, that the women here are so much interested, so strong, and you really can get a lot of women to become champions for conservation. And, so we have a lot of examples for that, but maybe we have an opportunity to talk more about it when we have our discussion. Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Yeah, the Wildlife Chimpanzee Foundation is a foundation I've always been interested in, especially with conservation, but as what you were mentioning, women empowerment, especially in the environmental field, is something very important. So, thank you so much for sharing about that. So our next guest speaker is… Wrojay Potter!

 

Wrojay PotterJr (FAO): Good evening, everyone.. Can you hear me? Thank you. My name is… it's great to… to join all of you, this evening. My name is Wrojay Badipoto Jr. But with a background, I'm a plant breeder.  Molecular breeder. But currently, I serve as the program support and partnership coordinator with the Food and Agriculture Organization, in Liberia. In this role, I support the implementation of the FAO country program framework, in coordinating and facilitating partnership, strategic partnership, a leading FAO technical policy support for Liberia, as well, on the Liberia Feed Yourself Agenda, which is the National Agricultural Development Plan guided by the full, post-war agenda, the arrest agenda. and on the framework of the Labor Rising Fission 2030. I will not go too much into FAO, I'll just inform you, FAO. As most of you may know, FAO is the United Nations, Special and Technical Agency, leading international efforts to achieve, full security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable, agricultural development across the world. But for in Liberia, we… my work has, I work closely with government, institution development partners. Civil society organizations, research institutions, farmers, organizations, and private sector, and agencies, actors to advance sustainable use of agricultural growth across Liberia. For my professional, journey, my professional journey began as, in the agriculture and the rural development area, where I worked closely to promote, sustainable farming practices, and improve and promote improved productivity. I used to work for the Ministry of Agriculture before as a fee technician on the World Bank, project. Where I supported thousands of farmers across the southeastern region. I was based in Granger, supporting climate-resilient agricultural technologies and extension services within our bill. Later, I moved to Liberia's Central Agricultural Research Institute, which is called CARI in Central Liberia. I was serving as a research officer, where I conducted research on sustainable crop production. Including rice, Liberia's stable food. climate, smart agriculture. Now, Climate Smart Aquaculture has been changed to Climate Resilient Aquaculture. In that, I was leading, cocoa regeneration. I created a couple of technologies and innovations for Liberia in regenerating cocoa using, tissue culture techniques, some molecular breeding techniques as well. I also supported in the post habit management and environmental compliance, including the earlier work with the EU deforestation regulations that should be coming… that should…that came in the full force, full force in, December. I led most of the, technology and development… innovation, for compliance on the research end with Kyrie, as well. My experience also contributed to regional mapping of climate-smart agriculture initiatives within West Africa, where I was working with the CADAP XP4 initiative, where we had to catalog all of the climate-smart, resilient initiatives in Liberia. Also, I was part of the team, that… the joint team that did the… the using radiation… mutation breathing tool, reduce Liberia's long-standing rice variety called the SWACOPO 8, with the IAEA, FAO, and the government of Liberia, we did the first, mutation breeding, using radiation to reduce the… the… the production cycle of, Sawyer 8. I was part of the team that developed that. Currently, the trial is in 8, I think  6… trial generation now, hoping that that should be released soon. But then I have to switch in 2024 to FAO. So, I will wait for…as we continue with the discussion to tell you where my environmental passion lasts as we go along, but I'm happy to join all of you this evening. Sorry for the poor quality of my voice, you know, the weather. And also, I extend my…I show my hands to all of our colleagues across the globe, especially in Europe, the Americas that are having this raging heat wave. I know the temperature is very huge, is very high for all of you. Some of the wildfires, our… our…hearts go out to you, though some families are losing now on this whole climate change issue. We pray for you, and we hope that peace come your way soon. Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much for sharing. Sustainable agriculture and climate support agriculture is a topic that I'm really excited to delve into in the Dialogue, so thank you so much. So, for our next guest speaker…

 

Naomi N: Oh, so sorry. Oh, I just realized I've been muted this whole time. I was just saying that, Sustainable Agriculture is a topic I'm very interested to delve into, into the dialogue. And for our next guest speaker, this is Jawalleh.

 

Jawalleh Deborah Promise: Hello, my name is Jawalleh D. Deborah Promise. I am an environmental scientist and engineer, and my background and work experience have been mostly focused in developing countries. I've worked through… with the, National Science Foundation in Nepal, Paraguay, Liberia, and Ghana. And more recently, I started my own organization, GEAR Foundation, which is… stands for Global Environmental Advocacy and Renewal, and our goal, really, with GEAR Foundation, my passion and mission is to kind of create an interconnection between all the systems that are needed when it comes to social economic growth within, developing countries, and so I focus on water, waste management, transportation, and kind of, like, looking at agriculture development from a different lens, in the sense that, like, it's not just one thing that connects us together, but it's multiple sectors that needs to come together in order for us to actually achieve that goal. And so a lot of times when you look at development, you know, we only focus on one specific thing, like, oh, probably farming, or transportation, or water, but it's like, my goal and mission with Gear Foundation is, how do we connect those together? But most importantly, how do we work with the community, with the people? Because I believe it's so important to include local communities in the change and development that's needed for that community. And as you move from different sectors, every community has its own problem, and so looking at communities as an individual system that we can work within, rather than implementing one system in different communities. And so that's kind of really my passion, and also to bring dignity back to people, dignity back to the work that we're trying to do, because I feel like when people feel… have dignity, then they take more… they're empowered enough to be included in the change that they want to see within their communities. And so, when it comes to, a problem that I'm really… environmental issue that I'm really, really passionate about is water, clean water access. I think water is more than just an environmental issue. I think it's a matter of dignity, health, education, and opportunity, because when communities have access to clean water and health, ecosystems are able to thrive, and communities are able to see beyond, just what we're giving to them now but what we can use to create generational wealth, generational, sustainability within each community. And so, yeah, so I'm really excited to be a part of this.This podcast and this, presentation today, and meeting Naomi, and just, like, diving in and collaborating and learning from each and every one of you in here, and being able to share my expertise. Like I said, I'm also very new to the whole, professional world, because I also just graduated, like, in 2024, so very new to this, but I am passionate, and Liberia is my home as well. My parents were Liberian refugees that left Liberia during the end of the First Civil War, went to Ghana, and then into the U.S. So, this mission is very personal to me, and environmental… I think, environmental awareness is a big, big…factor in our world right now, and the driving force that we need is to get people excited, people passionate, and get people involved, and how we do that is by educating them and giving them the empire that they need to be able to say, yes, I want to be a part of this, because it matters to my community, it matters to me, and it matters to the future of the generations that comes after me. And so, yeah, so that's kind of why I'm here today, and so thank you, and I'm looking forward to our discussion today.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Jawalla. I just wanted to share that Gear Foundation, I had the chance to learn more about the organization. They really focus on community-focused solutions here in Liberia, so I'm really looking forward to delving into that topic later on as well. So, for our next guest…

 

Jawalleh Deborah Promise: You're muted again, Naomi.

 

Naomi N: Oh my god, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I've just been realizing I've been talking without realizing I was muted, but I just wanted to say thank you so much, Jawalla. I was talking about Gear Foundation, because I had the chance to talk about, and hear more about your organization, how you guys focus on community-focused solutions. So I just really wanted to say that. And for our next guest speaker, it will be Cesar. Thank you.

 

Cesar Garcia: Thank you. I don't know if you hear me well?

 

Naomi N: Yeah, yes, we can hear you, and I am unmuted, yeah.

 

Cesar Garcia: Excellent, no, thank you. Thank you, Naomi, first of all, for this invitation, really kind of from you. And it's a pleasure, it's a pleasure to be a part of this discussion. A little bit, a little introduction about myself. I'm a mining engineer, in strategic, mine planning. I got, over 12 years of experience leading technical mine planning teams and projects. In the world of the mine optimization, capital projects, mineral reserve. For open pit and underground mines. Proven track records of reducing technical and operational risk. Improving the, mine economics, optimizing production capacity. So, I also have been involved in successful professability studies. feasibility studies, NI43101, studies, as well as experience, leading multidisciplinary teams. Across, geology, environmental, operational and consulting disciplines, and also focus in safety, in, well, in the world of mining. One of my, probably concerns about, environmental issues, in Canada well, we'd be probably indigenous environmental steps, right, that Canada is implementing, every time in order to reconcile, right, with Indigenous communities in Canada.  I think, well, this is… this is, public already, so many Indigenous communities have been impacted by, by, by, by Canada in the past, and we are trying to come back and provide a solution on that, right? And in the… in mining, so this is very important, so…operations, mining operators. They try to participate, with the community, try to work together with the community in order to minimize, right, the impact of mining. In regards to that wildlife, and, well, everything that is related to it, water quality, managing protected areas. So yeah, that's my… my comments again, and thank you. Thank you for this opportunity.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Cesar, for, participating. I actually met Cesar… I met him at a networking event, so, I really appreciate you for taking the time to come today. So for our next guest…

 

Naomi N: Oh! Was I muted this whole time? I may have been muted. But for our next guest speaker, it will be Harnon.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: Okay, yeah, yeah, okay. And good evening to everyone. Are you hearing me now?

 

Naomi N: Yes, I can hear you. Perfect, thank you so much.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: My name is Harnon Whymah-Garbo. I work for the Forestry Development Authority as part of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement.  That is a VPA Secretariat. And I'm also the founder of Hope For Nature Kids. as I was going through the phone online, I came across the…areas of discussion, and I was passionate about everything. That is, from climate change to plastic pollution. It is easy for us to view them as separate crises. But as a conservationist, I see them as symptoms of a single, deeper challenge, how we govern our relationship with religion. On the other hand, as a coordinator of the BBUS Secretariat. I operate at the micro level of forest governance through the Liberia-EU framework. We work to bring strict legal accountability transparency in the rule of law to our natural resources. We know that protecting our Upper Guinea forest isn't just about seeing fin trees, it is about building robust legal assurance systems. That secure cumulative land rights, combats climate change, and stop illegal, hide us from destroying our global carbon sink. On the other hand, as…the founder of Hope for Nature Kids has stepped away from the ballroom into the work with the next generation. We go into communities, we establish nature clubs, and we tell our youth planning day our wetlands are not just thin, and our forests are our future. We channel the Aquamic anxiety into action, Wallachill National Tree Planting Day, or Hands-On Recycling workshops. My message to this panel today is simple. Policy without preparing the next generation is short-sighted.But as a passionate young generation without structural policy framework is on hand. To surplus air pollution, protect biodiversity, and transform agriculture, we must enforce the stray regulatory frameworks we have in place at the top while, firstly investing in the people at the bottom. I look forward to explain how we've reached that gap to the… Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Harnon.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: I hope that you have been hearing me.

 

Naomi N: Oh, yes, I can hear you, I did hear you, don't worry.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: Thank you.

 

Naomi N: I hope you can hear me, I'm unmuted this time, but I just wanted to say that Hope for Nature Kids is an organization that, during my time here in Liberia, I got the chance to interact with. But they are such an amazing organization. I wrote an article about it on my website, so if you would like to read a bit more on that. So the next guest speaker that we have… is Henry, Dr. Nyuma, is Dr. Nyuma, currently here?

 

Nyuma: Yes, I'm here. I hope you guys can hear me very well.

 

Naomi N: Yes, we can hear you.

 

Nyuma: Greetings to everyone, and thanks for the opportunity afforded me to be a part of this panel. Thanks to you, Naomi, for your… resilience and persistence in making sure that you'll get the dream come true. For introduction, I am Henry Tambayoma. I am a scientist and a researcher and lecturer. I, by academic ranking, I'm an assistant professor at the University of Liberia, and I stand at a crossroad, in terms of my research background, because, as a soil scientist. The soil plays a major role in environmental resilience. It's a sink, and also a source of carbon, and pollution, or contamination. So, basically, half… So many years of experience in working looking at soils across different agroecosystems. In terms of explaining from, spinning from…I am an area of West Africa. Okay, now, so, in West Africa, like, in Liberia, currently, the current research I'm focusing on has to do with looking at the risk factor of urban Agriculture. The soils in urban, urban regions or in urban areas in Africa have a lot of challenges, because there's reported incidents of heavy metals contamination within our soils, especially in urban areas, where there's high demand for vegetables, especially lean vegetables. Recently, we are doing research to see the risks… the health risk factors involved in consuming vegetables from these urban agricultural sites across Montserrato County and the result is so interesting. But as we go along, we discuss those things, and I feel like there's a right forum for us to meet and share. I'm open-minded and look forward to seeing how we can learn from each other at this point. Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Dr. Nyuma. And for our next guest speaker, it will be… Lisa! If Lisa is here in the chat room, I believe so.

 

Lisa Chen: Hi everyone, my name's Lisa, I'm based out of Toronto, Canada. I actually haven't been to Liberia, so you know me for inviting me to this call. My background is actually in marine biology, and I'm the founder of Oceanic Impact, so we are an ocean education social enterprise. We focus on educating people about marine environmental issues. So, particularly plastic pollution, underwater, ocean noise, and, and, other types of pollution issues like that. And prior to starting the organization, I have been working as a marine biologist, around the world, specifically in Thailand, in coral research, in Florida for manatee research. Additionally, before the pandemic, I was working in Vietnam in agriculture at an aquarium. And then… and also, here in Canada, I've previously also, worked, at an aquarium on the west coast of the country as well. And then between a lot of, my experience in conservation, I actually also spent a lot of time teaching. And through these various, opportunities that I have worked at different countries with different communities, as well as an educator, I realized the power of education and the need to translate, scientific knowledge to something that people can understand and act on in everyday life. And especially for me right now in Toronto, we are quite far away from the ocean, so finding ways to connect people, to the bigger picture, bigger environmental, picture of how our everyday action can have a ripple, effect hours on the health of our planet has been something that I've been very passionate about. And yeah, as I mentioned, our key work is particularly work on marine debris, and that is because when I was working as marine biologist, I'd been to some of the most remote places on the planet. And I realized that a lot of this, imporous communities actually have no choice on dealing with, marine debris. A lot of their products came in single, use plastic packaging in small packaging, and they… oftentimes, they don't have the waste infrastructure that's available, in Western society to process all this waste. So a lot of times they ended up being in their waterways, in their oceans, and… and things like that. And… and then I see the dungs downstream impact of this, kind of lifestyle, as, you know, garbage on… on the…on the weave and on the beach will actually impact fisheries as well as tourism. No one wants to visit a beach, where there's a lot of plastic. So, because of that, I'm inspired to find holistic solutions that work with local communities that can, empower and enable them to find local solutions. To not only address an environmental issue, but to also upscale them with the skills and knowledge that they are able to also how… grow, I guess, their economy while respecting their socio-cultural needs. Yeah, that's it for me.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Lisa, for coming. Marine biology is a field that I'm… I am really interested into. So thank you again. So, for our next guest speaker is Mosiatta! Mosiatta is Mosiatta, in the room?

 

Mosiatta Faith Johnson: Yes, yeah. Hello, Naomi, and hello to everyone on this podcast. So, I'm Mosiatta, and I'm also Executive Director of the Climate and Environmental Protection Initiative of Liberia, CPO. So, my academic background, I earned a master's degree in environmental economics and Natural Resources Management. Thank you, Gaddy. I am a very passionate young woman about the environment, and then my leadership abilities as CFO has been under the implementation of our Climate Smart Agriculture Project, and we titled it Empowering Women and Girls in rural Liberia on Kannet Agricultural Process, Agricultural Process, slash…Cassava value addition in Lower Mosi Rado County. So far as Sweep, we have implemented a lot of programs, including conservation, mangrove restoration, awareness on wetland inflation, and our flagship program, which is the Green Protectors Eco Club. We run that in schools in and out of Paintsville, where we teach kids about the environment, escalated towards the environment. How environmental degradation affects not only them, but affects the next generation of Liberia. So far, I'm…Like I said, I'm very passionate about nature, resources, and management in general. Yes, that's it for me. As we go through the conversation, I'm looking to explore ideas and then network and share my expertise on topics about conservation, environmental digitization, and wetland restoration. Thank you again, Naomi, for having me today, and thank you to everyone… and I'm just so excited to be on this call with everyone in this podcast, thank you so much.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Mosiatta. And I really wanted to talk a little bit about CPUL, as there's one initiative. They have, they focus on also people with disabilities and enhancing the climate literacy for them, and that's, a program that I really wanted to, just spread awareness of, as it's really a lot of positive work.

 

Naomi N: And for…

 

Cesar Garcia: Your audio is not working.

 

Cesar Garcia: Naomi, yes.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, as I muted again. I think sometimes when I leave, it just mutes by itself, and I don't realize it, but thank you so much. So for our next guest speaker, it should be Platon, if he is here in the room.

 

Amb Platon S Plakar Jr.: Thank you, Naomi, and thanks to everyone. I'm excited to join this important conversation. And I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to you and the team at The Voices under the Palaver tree for creating this platform that brings together environmental leaders, researchers, students, and Organizations from across the world. To discover solutions to the environmental challenges facing our communities. And, I am Platon S. Plakar Jr, founder and executive director of Liberia Environmental Agriculture and Research Network, a registered Liberian non-profit organization committed to promoting environmental conservation, promising Smart Agricultural Research and Sustainable Livelihoods across Liberia. Well, I've had a chance of working with several institutions ranging from public sector to private sector, and… I personally pick up the… the career to read Environmental Science at Appleton University and, being an environmental science student gave me the passion to establish my own organization where I can be able to to drive…and champion, teams within the environmental sector. So, the establishment of LEARN came as a passion for…being able to advocate for sustainable livelihood, being able to create advocacy, for… Climate change across our communities and I've been able to work with both the Liberian government and we have drafts so many, initiatives across Liberia. Last year, 2025, we were fortunate to have been part of the NDC 3.0, which was crafted in Liberia, and we did a validation and submitted to the President of the Republic of Liberia, and that was a very great milestone that we… We feel excited to have been part of And, lastly, I'm looking forward to work with you and your team, and I hope this will be something that will be rotational, not just once in a while, but should be something that will always be helped, at least for us to be able to share ideas, learn from researchers and, be able to draft sustainable change across the words. Thank you again, Platon S Plakar Jr.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Platon.

 

Naomi N: I am on mute. I keep… it keeps randomly, it just mutes on itself some… for some weird reason, but for our last guest speaker, which I believe should be our last, is Alphena…

 

Alphena J Logan: Yes, I'm here.

 

Naomi N: Yes, thank you so much.

 

Alphena J Logan: Good evening, everyone. Sorry for my voice, I'm not aware, though. I am a young graduate from Nawar Maritime University in Sweden where I specialize in ocean sustainability, governance, and management. I'm passionate about the ocean and our natural resources. So, my professional journey started from… Oh…Sarah Marys, and then I got my MSc in Environmental… in Ocean Sustainability, Governance, and Management. I used to work with the, World Bank Project to honor the Ministry of Agriculture, where I was assistant safeguard, where promoting, food security, and we're trying to promote sustainable agriculture. So, after my short term at the Warbin Project, I decided to form my education in Sweden. I'm a young professional, like I said. I'm currently working at the National Port Authority, where I'm the Assistant Director in the Mering Department. And then, I'm interested in the… in illegal ceremony where I do my research that Naomi knows about. So, I'm interested in illegal seam mining, where we focus on more on the coastal community, the impact of illegal sand mining, so that we carry on awareness. I also work at the Environmental Protection Agency as an intern before going for study. So, I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to…give my inputs, I'm happy to be with young profession, to serve, to give our knowledge, and I'm happy that we all can work together to for the betterment of our country and for the world. Thank you so much.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Alphena, for sharing. Now, I… I'm not muted, right? Yes.

 

Cesar Garcia: Oh, you're muted again.

 

Naomi N: Oh, God! So sorry again. I believe that was all of our guest speakers, so first of all, I just wanted to say thank you to each and every one of you for taking the time out of your day to come here. So now we're gonna be moving on to our environmental Dialogue and question and answer. So, if anyone has any questions, you could post it into the chat room. And any… if any one of the guest speakers would love to answer, we would love to, do that. So, does anyone want to share? Okay, perfect, there's someone right here in the room. Yes.

 

Naomi N: Hello, my name is Blessed. And I have a question for, I don't know, Harmer… Harnon? Yeah, she worked at the FDA. So, my question is, what are some of the… some of the systems or policies that the government of Liberia have put in place for deforestation… to reduce deforestation in Liberia, because it affects climate change.

 

Naomi N: Harnon, did you hear the question?Okay, I don't think… maybe Harnon might not be at her, laptop anymore, so we'll just move on to the, next question.

 

Wrojay PotterJr (FAO): So I can answer the question. I just tried to… to post her questions. She asks so that anyone can answer. Of course, as, FAO, as, a staff from FAO, you know, we work with our… we are convenient also in the forestry, forestry sector as well with…supporting the government of Liberia. So, I would just like to provide some… professional lied, I'm not speaking on behalf of the government, I'm also not speaking on behalf of FTA as well, but I just thought for the lending purpose, so I just thought to… to, share some, like, you know. Currently, Liberia, currently, Liberia costs, more than 43% of the Upper Guinea Forest, which is the most reserved and natural forest currently in Liberia. In, in, in the world, and that, that boasts of 6 million hectares, hectares of, natural forest. For most Liberians, you know, our land is calculated in… most of our land is calculated in, in, acres. So, if I say 6 million, just multiply that by 2.5, acres, you know how many acres of land, the entire forest strip in Liberia, the natural forest of Liberia is made out of… Deforestation is a very huge thing. A couple of, the issue, affecting, Supporting deforestation in Liberia is, in one, agriculture. And one that is deforestation, and that is, shifting cultivation, for colleagues who don't know what shifting cultivation is. Shifting cultivation is where farmers, grow a plant here today, and after the planting time, they move from that location to another location. And, you know, as farmers go along, they will have to keep clearing, they'll keep clearing. So, for that… for that part, what the government has done, and the most… the, the crop that were being… that were promoting that was rice, you know? You know, Liberia, food security is heavily reliant on rice. Liberians eat, at least… an individual Liberian eats at least 133 kilograms of rice. Annually. That's the annual, consumption rate of, an individual Liberian eating, right? There's this common thing in Liberia, we say. If we don't erase, we haven't eaten, so… so… so what the government has done on that part one, to prevent shifting cultivation, Koroma has put in policy that they have to move from upland farming, which promote, which promote shifting cultivation as, to what we call lowland farming. So now, that's one policy shift Gourmet has done. Another thing Gourmet has done is, Gourmet has gazette a couple of…a couple of forest areas, that's why you find… you have a couple of reserves now. You hear the Nya Reserve, you have this other reserve, the Sapo, you have this other… so they have gazetted them to say you don't have to… You know, people don't have to move their displace a totally or, reserved area. Another policy shift Gomez has done, Gomez is promoting what they call agroforestry. So, agroforestry is where they engage in crops that will promote,. hat could be used in the agroforestry system. That's why you see a huge push for cocoa production. You see a huge push for coffee, you see a huge push for cashew as well. Those are a couple of policy shift, government is also doing. But interestingly, recently, what we realized, I was for the carbon, we found out that we'll get more carbon. We'll get a huge carbon sink from, My head is not around the current data, but from what we realized, you will get a huge carbon sink from the mangroves, as you will get from the forest. So we don't know if there will be another policy shift, in the next, in the next few years, but currently, preserving forests is one thing that government is also, that's one, policy shift government is doing. Now, another thing Guermin has done so far, for… for… for… for that is to…to engage farmers, because, you know, we have this illegal mining. It's not just only agriculture that is, promoting, deforestation. We have some of these, illicit money that is contributing to that. In 2025 alone, FAO, Global Forest, Office did an assessment, and we realized that at least 0.43% of our natural forest is being lost to deforestation, and that is about, 43,000 hectares or land per year. So every year, we have this 43,000, and some of those things is not only, agriculture, like I mentioned, illicit mining, that's why you see the president just, brought, just, established this, the lazy money tax force to go after people that are doing lazy money, that's some of the policy shift. Another thing that is the urbanization. Before…people are now moving to settings, certain, community, but now you see, people are, people are… people places, we will call villages, we will call, towns, you see now, they are expanding. These are some of the policy shifts. I hope the FDA colleague come around, and she'll try to talk about some of these… just talk to just provide some of the updates for… for, is it Bella? For… for the sake of Bella.

 

Naomi N: Oh, her name is Blessed. Blessed.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: Hello, can I come in, please?

 

Naomi N: Of course, Harnon.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: Yeah, I'm sorry I was away from my computer, On the line of the FDA and what the government has done, through the VBA, the government has put in  And one of those systems has to do with the labor trace system. That's a traceability system that track all… track and barcode and track timber that…attract timbers into the laboratory system. It has also helped, formulated… formulated benefits sharing. Currently, we have the National Benefit Sharing Trust School that received… Comment France. Now, through the FDA communities now, boom! They are learned. They have voice to play. We have the National Modest Stakeholder Monitoring Community. Through that framework, I mean, the National Monetary, National Multi-Stakeholder Monetary Committee that meets regularly every month.And… That group is comprised of civil society, They formulated dwellers. And they meet every month to discuss issues about community. So, it has also, built capacity. Right now, before… right after the war, we saw that Liberia went into essential because there were no systems in place. So, but right now, legalities have been put in place that no timber can leave our Liberian forest without it being barcoded and… Frameworks have been put in place. As I said earlier, we have the Liberia Implementation Committee that brings together government officials and ministers high-level, government officials, they immediately discussed about how timber leaves Liberia into the EU market. So, those are just some of the, benefits now that we can say from… I'm speaking from the VBA standpoint, because as coordinated on the VBA Secretariat, so we meet bring stakeholders together through the VPA, stakeholders' voices are not being heard easily. Standard Voices and not be heard easily. Right now, this month, again, we will be meeting the last Tuesday of this month, where national stakeholders will gather again to speak about issues that affect our… our country and the forests of Liberia. Diga policies have also been put in place and honor the VPA. Just as the police are supposed to say, We have…the community rights laws now that make the community to have ownership of their own community. Thank you, I just wanted to add that.

 

Mosiatta Faith Johnson: Hello, good afternoon.

 

Naomi N: Yes, you can come in, Mosieta. I think you'll be the last person, because I think we have to move to the next question afterwards, but go ahead.

 

Mosiatta Faith Johnson: Well, thank you. I just want to ask a few of these questions. Number one, someone asked me why. All of this conversation is important now. So, it's important because Climate change is no longer a future situation, it's our current position. We are experiencing the effort now and then, and so… It's only prudent that we have these conversations surrounding climate change, environmental degradation, wetlands, deforestation, wetland restoration, and every other thing, so…in short, climate change is already happening to us now. We are experiencing flooding in Liberia, and even in West Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria just experienced a huge flooding, that caused the loss of property, the loss of life, and so the conversation is now, because it's already happening now. There's no… there's no more of future or teacher's problem is our current problem. That's one. Two, and then I just spoke a little bit fast. So, someone said, what are some of the policies? So, I will speak on behalf of the government or FDA, because all I have our second charge here, but I will speak on behalf of CPU. As people, we have this policy called each child plant a tree. So, when we do our Great Protectors Eco Club, we are not only teaching the children about the environment, we are also teaching them about environmental sustainability and tree splinting. At the end of our Echo Club Academic Echo Club, we gave them twists, some fruit trees, meaning avocado, that they would carry. Each child will give them, at most food trees, they will carry home. They plant those trees, and then they nurture them. The next academic year, they come with other all, a picture, or a video, or just something to document how far that child tree is. And the child of the most growing tree, we award them for the next academic year. So that is just something at the local student level we are doing. And then… A 32-hour solution? We cannot, we cannot…We are discussing deforestation, and the right way to get to combat deforestation is reforestation, or asforestation, because reforestation is, like. Plenty exactly what has been extracted for the forest. It's almost impossible to explain exactly what has been extracted, but then if… if the if we take, for example, put one timber there, and then we replace that one timber with at most two or three other food trees, like orange, or avocado, or just a tree that will help sustain the soil and make it compatible to climate change, flooding, and erosion. So 33 is very, very essential to climate change issue. We cannot… there's no way we'll discuss climate change in this world, and then we leave reforestation out of it. It's never possible. So, I will just… this person say they have four questions, I will just go with you, and then I will answer a quick… a quick two or three from there. Number one, the person issue is, what… what… what… how… how can we determine that whatever that is caused in a…you know, orbit era is being implemented in the rural area. That is why we have… that is why, I've attended a lot of… a lot of validations, and a lot of high-level meetings, and then there is always a representative of county in that room, because it's never possible to take all of the occupants in the three counties of Liberia in one place. So when we… when the country is having meetings like this, the events are the superintendents. Or permanent voice in a community, in a county, even in the local leadership, they invite them, and then the idea is to brainstorm on how you think your county, your community, can benefit from okay, be a part of this culture about climate change. So, because climate change is not only about, you know, happening in the urban area, mostly is a rural area that is mostly affected, because they are the ones that are of direct impact with the sport when it comes to agriculture. So… I think so far, it's… I just wanted to add, you know, share some more light on some of these questions that I asked. Thank you again, Naomi.

 

Naomi N: Of course, thank you so much, Mosiatta, because you also did answer some questions that were already in the chat, and thank you, Roja, as well, as I can see that you're replying to some of the questions as well. I really appreciate that. So I think I'll move on to one… the question that I see first.

 

Naomi N: I see Devon posted a question to Jawalleh, because I know Jawalleh might have to leave soon, so I'll just prioritize this first. It says from your interdisciplinary standpoint…what might effective international collaboration look like for places like Liberia, especially with universities, NGOs, and innovative foundations such as Figure Foundation?

 

Jawalleh Deborah Promise: Yeah, so I was, actually, typing my answer to that question in the chat, and I think I'll put it in there after. But what I was, gonna say, so first of all, thank you for the question, and from my perspective, I think when you're looking at international collaboration, it really has to begin with organizations, kind of recognizing and realizing that communities are experts of their own realities, and we have to…we have to take into that account, you know? Like, you're not going into a community to try to fix it because there's something broken. You're going in there, not with, like, isolated, solutions, but with Gear Foundation, like, our goal is to, be co-designers of systems, and to, look at the local communities and use their knowledge and their lived experience on how to create better systems for them, you know? Because, for example, just like within Liberia, there's so many different ways that people did farming or architecture back in the day. And most of the time, you'd think, like, some of those,  ideas are a little bit isolated or obsolete because of the lack of resources. But the methodology of, like, the medicine and how the study, the plants and the animals, and how they kind of just deal with those systems within their own communities is still prevalent to our society today. And so, it's kind of like creating a system that brings modern technology to native life, and combining those together rather than seeing them as isolated systems. And so that's kind of, like, how I would approach the idea of that, especially when looking, like, collaborating with organizations within Canada, the US, or just, like, outside of Liberia, is to really try to make that the driving force, so that when we are working together with or when we are, kind of, collaborating together, we're doing it in a system and in a way that everyone is seeing, especially the Native, people. I hope that answers your question.

 

Devon Proulx: Yes, it does, thank you very much. It also answered my second question, so I appreciate that.

 

Jawalleh Deborah Promise: Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you once again. And we do have a next question from Caesar

 

Naomi N: Hello, everyone. Caesar, interested in studying environmental science as a career. My question goes like this to both the forestry Department of the FDA and Environment, looking at the rising consent of our wildlife entering into our environment, destroying people's homes and property. So my question would be that to the FDA, what are some policies the government is trying to put in place to prevent… to prevent the wildlife from destroying people's homes and property, and also trying to preserve those wildlife for our country's resources.

 

Naomi N: Oh, Annika, I see your hand is raised, you can go ahead.

 

Annika Hillers WCF: Yes. Thank you very much for that question, because I think it is indeed an important problem that is growing in Liberia. I think the one thing that we need to realize is that there is a reason why these things are happening more and more and one of the… the main reason is that there is a competition for land, and that mining concessions, and I'm really talking about the impact of mining concessions here, because they are the key factor at the moment. They are the driving force for this. And unfortunately, the government in Liberia does not want to hear it. But the problem is that before mining concessions are placed into specific locations, there is no fact-checking, no scientific evaluation of available data. Which normally shows that these mining concessions are very often overlapping with areas of very high biodiversity, and with areas where it is known that there are high numbers of elephants, of chimpanzees, of other wildlife. That's…have been in these places for thousands of years. They have used these little areas for thousands of years for migration, and so on. This is the problem number one, that, in order to avoid this impact of, or to avoid human-wildlife conflict, it is important to know where, which activity can happen, and to consider where are the high biodiversity areas in Liberia. Second. Of course, also, the problem is that there is a lot of agricultural expansion, and communities are expanding, and again, the way how farms are being done today often is very different from the traditional method, because traditionally, farms were in clusters, but now people are just going as individuals, placing farms all over and again. You know, we see areas where farmers are putting the farms in a place where you have plenty of elephant footprints.And then they are complaining that the elephants are going to the farm, but already before they put the farm in an area, they knew that elephants are there. So, again, it's not surprising if you know that you have plenty of wildlife in the area, and you put your farm exactly there. Well, obviously there will be conflict. But then, again, there is actually a lot of education happening. So, over the past, five years, another NGO called Elephant Research for Conservation, which, however, sorry, Elephant Research and Conservation, who, however, have left Liberia and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, in collaboration with the Forestry Development Authority, we have trained more than 1,000 farmers across Liberia. There is a toolkit that was developed. That should help to reduce human-wildlife conflict. It shows simple methods to… for farmers, how you can avoid this, how you can keep animals away from the farm. For example, we know that a lot of the wildlife, they don't like pepper, they don't like fire, they don't like noise, and so we…besides this toolkit, we also distributed a lot of materials, we trained people from the communities to help mentoring others, and so there are actually simple things that can be done that can easily help the farmers. We know, however, that also people from the Ministry of Agriculture are often not very much aware, and so we… this year, we are actually starting to also train extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture to help with this, with this issue, and so that they… more people know about it. And we also have developed a simple version of the toolkit for school children. So we wanted to be part of a new conservation curriculum that is also being developed with the Ministry of Education, and so we also have already about 70 wildlife clubs or environmental clubs run by the White Chimpanzee Foundation, but also other partners, like the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia and the Nature Compact. And so we already are promoting these tools among school children across the country. So there are different, different things that can be done, and of course, we can also share the toolkit with Naomi and some more information that can be shared with whoever is interested. Thank you.

 

Jawalleh Deborah Promise: Yeah, and also, just to add to that, I just want to say it's also very important to also look at the other side of it, because, with talking about land and farming and things like that, or, like, protecting wildlife and human interactions is that a lot of the time it's also about sustainable farming, because if you are using land or using the spaces that you are, and kind of like what one of the other speakers was saying, it's like, after some time, you know, people are using one area, and then moving on to the next, and moving on to the next, and so the more and more you move on to the next, the more and more you get into those interactions with wildlife. And so I think some… some of the focus should also really be on how we, impact or how we, how we go into sustainable farming so that we're using areas of farming in a sustainable way that can last for generations, rather than, putting a band-aid on a problem that's already existed, because that's the first issue, and to say, okay, we're gonna just provide these things, but how does that, impact or help the people long-term for 2, 4, 5, 6 years down the line? Because if that's the case, that's always going to be the problem. We're gonna keep getting more and more into wildlife because of the way that we farm.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much for you both for sharing, and I see, Mosiatta, your hand is up. Did you want to share something as well?

 

Mosiatta Faith Johnson: Yeah, I just, I just want to add, so…two other replies to this question, requesting to how can Albert promote sustainable agriculture while addressing climate change and ensuring food security. So, I feel that the first way to the first way in which I break and promote sustainable agriculture is by empowering the local farmers. The farmer could be teaching them about the youth of the…modern agricultural technologies, like the Tilling machine, the situation metal, and other technologies. And then I also feel that another form of empowerment is by educating them, like, creating an awareness, educating them about the risks involved of full, sustainable, or unmanaged, or uncertain agricultural practices. So, the first… first step should be about training them about both the use of technology, and then educating them all, giving them an awareness about why it's important to have a sustainable agriculture. That's just, oh, I would like to add to the other two replies, because they say why I wanted to see already, so that's it.

Naomi N: Thank you so much for sharing. Now, because of time, since we do have, a little over 15 minutes left, I'll just scan for the questions and see what hasn't been answered yet.

 

Naomi N: I do see there's a question on illegal mining, and Alphena, I know maybe… I'm not too sure if there's anyone else who can answer this. Is there any real laws and penalty on illicit or illegal mining here in Liberia, if anyone would like to answer on that?

 

Alphena J Logan: Naomi, I'm so sorry, I was in the washroom, I'm sorry. Yes, there was a question.

 

Naomi N: Oh, yes, the question was, someone did post a question on whether there are any, methods putting in place to stop illegal mining, here in Liberia, any policies put into place?

 

Alphena J Logan: Yes, there's a… there's a mining… there's a mineral and mining law of 2002, where it regulates, mineral explosion and mining and it requires you to have lessing before you can consult, money activities. So, yes, Liberia does have laws that regulate mining, and if you are not authorized to carry on the mining activities, there where it becomes, illegal. So, the government is also trying to put in place some measures to target illicit mining in our country. Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much for sharing. And Dr. Nyuma, I see that your hand is up. Is there something that you wanted to share?

 

Nyuma: Yes, I hope you can get me now.

 

Naomi N: Yes, we can hear you clearly.

 

Nyuma: Okay, let me just add my voice to the many voices. When it comes to… I see questions about why some of the measures put in place are not working, and some of these… the young people are asking questions as to whether… how some of these practices can work, and even the ones that have been implemented, why they are not, adaptation, or adoption is now moving across to rural areas. Now, one of the main challenges from a research point of view, most of the policies that have been put in place with regards to environmental conservation they are not recess-driven. They are no half-fax data to authenticate what are the practices that have been brought will be adopted. So, most often, the approaches that have been used in Liberia's case is from top to bottom. There are a few instances where the community perception are taken into consideration, if not in most cases. The decisions are made and gets to the community, so adoption becomes a serious challenge. And then, it looks like these things are not there. Some of the laws are on the books. But there are no… they are rarely researched. Most often, that's why we are encouraging government, as a research institution, the University of Liberia. That they should involve academic institution research component to every project coming up in the future, because that's a major challenge. You cannot make decisions in the absence of empirical data, and that is one of the reasons why you see these issues. We don't know where, how, who should benefit, and traditionally, our people have their own cultural perception. So, if these things don't go in line with policy, if they don't go in line with what these people want, that's some of the reasons why we have challenges with implementing or achieving some of the goals that have been set. Thank you.

 

Jawalleh Deborah Promise: Yeah, I, I really agree with that, and also, just to add to that, I really do think the people voice needs to be included in the beginning of these change in policies that are being made. But then also, another thing is the system in Liberia, especially with the government, and especially when you're trying to get local people involved, it's so hard. It's so hard, because I have gone through it with a lot of people that I work with, especially with women and youth organizations, to try to get anything approved, to try to get your organization, accredited, just… or even, like, resources, tools, to be able to be available to the people, it's so hard, and that's one thing I'm really trying to work with through Gear Foundation, is to make accessibility easier, is to make that Liberians get to benefit from the systems that's created to help Liberia, to help feed Liberia and when those voices are not at the table, then decisions are made where, like, it doesn't benefit the people. It doesn't benefit the communities that we're trying to serve. And that's what I have been experiencing. I was in Liberia, a few years ago, where I was working with those systems from the… with the EPA, you know, waste management, and those voices are lacking, especially when we're talking about, like, local Native people, how they work, and so…we need to figure out how to get the government interested in those local voices, but also how to make the process and system easier for the people. And I don't know where that begins, but that's something I'm trying to work on and figure out where we can start with that.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Jawalleh, for sharing. And I see, Wrojay, your hand is up. Do you want to share something or add on to that?

 

Wrojay PotterJr (FAO): Yeah, so, Like I said, I don't speak on behalf of the government, But, led to… since I would like to disagree with a few of the concerns, raised on the way policies are developed. I think, I think one of the colleagues spoke about the… the recent National Determine Contribution 3.0, before, it was difficult on getting local voices into policy development. I know that because we support government, our role also helps provide technical backstop into government in developing some of the policies. Of late, there is no policy developed in Liberia that the local community is not evolved. I will… there are some challenges, yes. We talk about…simplicity about understanding sometimes becomes very difficult. Another thing is…implementation, because sometimes, once these policies are developed, they'll go back and…have… have accessibility of those, policies sometimes for the local community. But… but in simple, simple, simple, or…summarized, copy for them, it became very challenging on the part of Guernabo. On the overall, there, there is no… even from the arrest agenda, I know the level of consultation. From the grassroots consultation that happens from district level, from clan level to district level, from district level to county level, from county level to national level towards validation. So I know, I know some of these, processes that we go through in developing some of these policies. I understand, again, sometimes everyone will not be on the table. Sometimes, it's based on representation, community representation. But I understand the point from colleagues when they say. Sometimes it's difficult for… for a combination to access most of the information, but it's true, often when these… after the… the bigger question begins, after the policy has been developed, what next? This has been the bigger question, so far. Often you develop this policy, at the end of the day, the way government communicate these policies sometimes become very difficult. Like, something I was discussing, like, recently I had some discussion with some of the government's, colleagues. Since they developed the A.S. agenda, now one… now… how many of the government, I'm not even talking about the community level, I'm talking about the government staff. How many of the government staff even understand what the A.S. agenda is? Because…it hasn't been communicated. Communication in our… in our part of the world has been very difficult thing. After the policies have been developed, how do you communicate this to the to the community to accept the same thing they have written. Sometimes it will even amaze you to know that once you go back to communicate, like, we normally work with them, we go back to the community, and we tell them, say, but we were here recently, and we're developing this, and you say you don't know about this, sometimes it becomes…it becomes very difficult. So it's just about post-development communication. That's the best way I'll put it. After development, how do you communicate this information back to the community? And I think the FDA colleague will bearing witness on this. Some of these things, after they develop it, when you go back to implement somebody in the community pretend like they don't know. That this thing was developed. So that's… that's one of the concerns. I just thought to… to draw something along, but there is no policy developed in Liberia as of 2021 that I know of in Liberia that they culminated or not consulted. That is not… that is not true.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Wrojay, for sharing. And we have 7 minutes left, so I think I can only take 2 more questions, I did want to ask, maybe just one… maybe two more… two more questions. I would love to ask to any one of the panelists, what inspired you to pursue a career in the environmental field? How was that in terms of deciding what you wanted to do? Was it…a good path, smooth path, if anyone would like to share any difficulties that they faced. Yes, Annika, I see that your hand is raised. You can go ahead.

 

Annika Hillers WCF: I think it's important that you… if you have passion for nature, and this is what you love doing… I mean, I grew up in nature as a kid, and I loved being in nature, I loved being with animals. And, I loved also interacting with people, and this is where I started biology, and, I mean, I wanted to go somewhere where I can actually make an impact. And, I mean, I always was dreaming of going to Africa, and so I… I mean, I really had the privilege, to… to just follow my passion, also as a woman, to do my PhD, to do everything I wanted, and so it's kind of… what I'm doing today is really my dream job. Even though, yes, it is difficult, and we are facing a lot of obstacles, but nevertheless, I mean, I think there is no better job in the world than working in conservation, having the privilege to work in a country in, like, Liberia, where actually, as a biologist. You can still contribute to the creation of protected areas. I mean, you know, there are no… it's a privilege, it's a luxury that Liberia has that we are here in a country where we still have space, we still have forests that can be protected, and it's not…the same in many countries in the world. We… I have the privilege to work in a biodiversity hotspot, and we are even… we don't even know the true biodiversity of Liberia. Every time when there are some scientists come in to work on some less-known taxonomic groups, they are going to… they are discovering new species, and… and then on top of that, you can interact with communities, you can empower women. So, I mean, for me, it's just my dream job. And, it… because it just combines so many aspects, it has so many different, varieties of activities, and, you can interact with academia, with NGOs, with government, so it's like…yeah, I mean, I just would encourage everybody, if you love nature and follow your path. Because, yeah, I mean, there is so much you can change in this world, in a place like Liberia and many other places. And you will have an impact. Do it.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Annika, for sharing that, Bun. And yeah, that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to have this dialogue, because the environmental sector, the geoscience sector, it's so diverse, there's so many opportunities. If it's something you're passionate about, as what you said, you should just do it. 

 

Naomi N: Oh, yeah, of course, Harnon, go…

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: I wanted to speak, to that question, that Annika responded to hers. What, drew my interest in nature was when I was a freshman student at the University of Liberia. And then the mayor who brought me over to Nature, Flumo Mana is late now. I used to go there and pause student dialogue. So, from there, I was opportune to travel with him to the Sapo National Park, and then, Dr. Annika Hillers who is speaking, I had an opportunity to work with her for several years on Amphibians. And then my interests grew more when I started to… knowing how unique each species in the forest are, especially those little frogs, different colors, and they all have their own beautiful lifestyle. And then I had an opportunity to conduct research with a lot of aspects also of Liberia, through her influence in other, influence from the University of Liberia. So, I started realizing that in the whole ecosystem, life has to coexist. The trees, they all have their own beautiful lifestyle. So, I grew interested in everything, butterflies, trees, a good interest in all. So that's what led me to change my mind. From my… my first focus was medical doctor, so I did biology, but when I started growing the field, my mind switched from becoming a doctor now to becoming a conservationist, and I love everything about it. Just as I said earlier, this hearing led me to forming, both for nature case, so that I can pass on knowledge that I've learned along the land to younger generations. Thank you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, Harnon, for sharing your backstory. Oh, wrojay, I see that your hand is raised. I think you'll be the last person that we'll be able to take before we end.

 

Wrojay PotterJr (FAO): Oh, okay, thank you, I grew up on a….I grew up on the second largest rural plantation in Liberia. It's called LAC, the Liberian Agricultural Company, and it was so intriguing to me when I saw a couple of couple of foreigners coming to that part of Liberia to settle.  In the name of… growing rubber. And they were not… they were not mining, they were not extracting, but rather they were just…planting, and harvesting, and… anyway, employing… a whole lot of different professionals. They were employing people that… engineers that they rolled to maintain their roles so they can take their robots. They were hiring people, they were hiring medical doctors to run their hospitals, they were hiring teachers. So, about that, it was so intriguing to me to see that, just for nature, you could hire a whole lot of different, professionals in doing… just in, without extracting, without harming the environment, and stuff. But then I didn't understand what fertilizer was, but then I just saw people throwing seeds, and it grew naturally, and… and…about that, it started intriguing me, and I started to understand. Why… why you throw HC in the ground, it goes, and it gives you, rubber. So for that, I thought that, okay, it would be a better thing that I've pursued this to understand why… why is so? So my… my initial interest hasn't been in policy. Rather, it has been in… in research, which I spent a couple of years with the…the Universal… with, the Central Agriculture Research Institute and a Swedish, agriculture university. And I've seen, going forward, I've seen that, okay, this is how it's happened. Now, to shift to policy area, I was like, okay, even though we provide all of the data, the information, the innovation, the technology, now. Who… who shift… who sit in the ballroom to… to shape the real conversation, and I understood that the policy makers too. So, okay, so since I love nature, I want to protect nature, it's better that, okay, since I have honest to how it works, the whole science behind nature, it is better that I have the opportunity to go to the policies are, if I can… even if I'm not the one making the final decision in the policy room, but if I can slip song Control, song. If I can convince people in the room to at least protect nature, it would be a very good thing. And interestingly, like, I would tell any young person who wants to pursue nature, this time… this time is a very interesting time, especially with the whole…geopolitical, changes happening, the whole global changes happening, reducing ODAs in nature and conservation, nature protection, climate finance, all of those things. Seeing that people are shifting, it is a very good time to take advantage of a nature understanding and localize it into your context, into the Liberian context. For me, I like to say we should do, we should do nature, focus on nature, education, nature, develop nature, preservation, with the librarian and stains. We shouldn't just only do it based on the way other people do it. We should do it in a way that fits into our local context. So, thank you so much, it was good, engagement with me, a lot of you.

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much for sharing, Wrojay, and since we are a bit over time, I will be ending the session now, and I know there were some unanswered questions, so I'll paste them, and I know that some people had targeted questions to specific guest speakers.

 

Naomi N: And I think if that's okay with everyone, I'll just reach out to the guest speakers with those unanswered questions and get back with the answers. So I just want to say thank you so much once again for everyone for taking the time out of your day to join this conversation. It was so cool, it was so cool that I got… I didn't even know that I was going to be able to get this many guest speakers, so I just wanted to say thank you so much once again.Bye-bye! Take care! Bye-bye.

 

Alphena J Logan: Thank you.

 

Harnon Whymah-Garbo: Thank you, Naomi, thank you so much!

 

Naomi N: Thank you so much, bye-bye!