{"id":87854,"date":"2026-02-17T07:29:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T07:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:21:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:21:56","slug":"kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park","title":{"rendered":"Kongba Residents Seek De-Gazetting of Gola Forest Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>Residents of Kongba District in Gbarpolu County have strongly rejected the government\u2019s declaration of the Gola Forest National Park as the proposed Gola\/Foyah Reserve, describing the move as unacceptable for failing to consult affected communities properly.<\/p>\n<p>During a press conference over the weekend in Brewersville, leaders of the Kongba District Development Association demanded that the Government of Liberia de-gazette the park unless a comprehensive stakeholders\u2019 conference is held to address the district\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n<p>The Association\u2019s Secretary General, Learplay Bainda, stated that, in accordance with the law and the forest management plan, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) must clearly inform residents of the specific benefits they are entitled to from forest conservation.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bainda stressed that the FDA and its implementing partner, Conservation of Nature of Liberia, must engage residents in genuine and meaningful dialogue to address their concerns.<\/p>\n<p>He also called for the involvement of key partners\u2014including the European Union, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Environmental Protection Agency, and Conservation International\u2014to collaboratively address the district\u2019s challenges, with a particular focus on restrictions that limit residents\u2019 access to the forest.<\/p>\n<p>Among their demands, residents are requesting the rehabilitation and regular maintenance of roads and bridges leading to the park.<\/p>\n<p>They are also calling for employment and scholarship opportunities for youth in diverse fields, along with well-defined programs to empower women in the district.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Association seeks compensation for communities directly impacted by the park\u2019s establishment, as well as the implementation of safety measures to prevent wild animals\u2014such as elephants\u2014from encroaching on towns and farmland.<\/p>\n<p>The group is also urging the FDA and its partners to provide essential services, including safe drinking water, improved healthcare, and quality education for district residents.<\/p>\n<p>The people of Kongba District reiterated their unequivocal opposition to the establishment of the Gola\/Foyah Reserve in its current form, insisting that their concerns be addressed through inclusive consultation before any further action is taken.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Liberia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Liberia. Residents of Kongba District in Gbarpolu County have strongly rejected the government\u2019s declaration of the Gola Forest National Park as the proposed Gola\/Foyah Reserve, describing the move as unacceptable for failing to consult affected communities properly. During a press conference over the weekend in Brewersville, leaders of the Kongba District Development Association [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":87853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-87854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kongba Residents Seek De-Gazetting of Gola Forest Park - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Residents of Kongba District in Gbarpolu County have strongly rejected the government\u2019s declaration of the Gola Forest N ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kongba Residents Seek De-Gazetting of Gola Forest Park\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Residents of Kongba District in Gbarpolu County have strongly rejected the government\u2019s declaration of the Gola Forest N ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T07:29:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T08:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/sm_1771303897.785983.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"936\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Kongba Residents Seek De-Gazetting of Gola Forest Park\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-17T07:29:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T08:21:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park\"},\"wordCount\":346,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/sm_1771303897.785983.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/kongba-residents-seek-de-gazetting-of-gola-forest-park\",\"name\":\"Kongba Residents Seek De-Gazetting of Gola Forest Park - 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