VPA-SU2 supported a 9-day joint inspection at Geblo Logging Company FMC Area I in Sinoe County from 7th to 15th of March 2022. The field inspections aimed towards following up with the mock inspection exercises supported by VPASU2 in February 2020. These inspections focused significantly on coaching of field staff of the three inspecting institutions, FDA, EPA, and MoL, as well as on familiarizing inspectors with the customized version of the checklist specifically on the mandatory requirements from the Liberian Code of Forest Harvesting Practices (CFHP). The CFHP checklist is an initial document to assess the parameters of the mandatory requirements of the CFHP, including a standardized reporting system using the Non-Compliance Registry (NCR), which captures non-compliance (NC) and places them into different categories. Moreover, the CFHP provides a clear set of guidelines to help foresters and logging companies to select practices to be followed when carrying out harvesting operations.

The inspection team comprised field staff of FDA, EPA, MoL, and the logging operator. In total, thirteen persons participated in the field inspections, four FDA staff, two EPA inspectors, two MoL inspectors, four operator staff, and one VPASU2 Junior Field Engineer.

Subsequently, the outcomes of the inspections have shown certain incompliances. The necessary corrective actions will be implemented by the operator as soon as possible.

Written by Zeon Whawhen