Sapo National Park is currently the largest conservation area in Liberia. It measures over 180,000 hectares and stretches across three of Liberia’s southeastern counties of Sinoe, Grand Gedeh and Rivergee. As one of the country’s most talked about biodiversity hotspots, the Park has been a subject of illegal activities. Until June 2018, illegal miners, poachers and traders occupied the Park and continued to carry out illegal activities there despite efforts by the Government of Liberia to evict them.
Upon the inception of the USAID WA BiCC funded Tai-Grebo-Krahn-Sapo (TGKS) Transboundary Boundary project, PADEV in collaboration with FFI identified the lack of effective awareness and community sensitization as one of the major drawbacks to the protection of the Park. To address this challenge, the team [PADEV and FFI working with FDA Park management] rolled out series of communication activities throughout the landscape. A critical and important aspect of this intervention was the formation of community based outreach structures.
In late 2019, the team successfully facilitated the formation of two theater troupes in the landscape. Made up predominantly of young men and women; and future beneficiaries of their forest resources, the roles of the troupes are to lead conservation awareness activities in the constituents of the Park and to assume greater responsibility of its protection and management; while supporting local authorities in their districts to achieve other community development goals.
In early 2020, both troupes were formally handed over to their respective local authorities. The two troupes are based at the opposite ends of the Park. One troupe is situated westward in Jalay Town, the headquarters of the Park and the other is located in the east at Nyennawliaken. Two years following the end of the TGKS project, the troupes still exist and have been integrated in the social structure of their communities. Before then, awareness and sensitization around the Park was spontaneous. With support from FFI and other partners, community entities are propping FDA to take care of the Sapo Park.
