Making a drama out of a crisis: how women in Liberia are protecting biodiversity, one performance at a time.

The theme for this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity - From agreement to action: build back biodiversity - could not be more apt for the women who form the Ex-Bushmeat Sellers Drama Team in Liberia, West Africa. Their story shows the remarkable power of performance art - and how it can help Liberia’s wildlife bounce back.

Daily life in the noise, bustle and heat of Liberia’s illegal bushmeat markets is rarely without drama. Endangered species including reptiles and primates are openly on sale and there appears to be no shortage of traders and consumers, despite the constant risk of arrest by law enforcement officials.

But look closer and you’ll find a different kind of drama - a real-life theatre group starring former bushmeat sellers, all of them women, who now tour the country’s notorious wet markets bringing a message of hope - and conservation.

“In Liberia, there’s a long tradition of women telling stories through performance, especially in rural areas,” explains Annika Hillers of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) who helped set up the Ex-Bushmeat Sellers Drama Team in 2020 - partly funded by the EU - in collaboration with Liberia’s Eddie Theatre Productions Group. “Raising awareness through theatre works really well, so we started doing it in the bushmeat markets and a group of the sellers got together and decided they wanted to form a drama group. They have already been on a national tour of bushmeat markets around the country.”

The results of this unusual but highly effective way to raise conservation awareness are truly remarkable. Working in partnership with the Liberian Marketing Association (LMA), 27 out of 34 women bushmeat sellers who volunteered for a pilot project  switched to other business models almost immediately - and the LMA did not allow any other bushmeat sellers to fill the gap. Now Annika and her team are implementing a similar project nationwide, also part-funded by the EU - and of the 300 women involved, 272 have stopped selling bushmeat. “It’s incredible! If they change, they change immediately,” she adds. One WCF survey found that bushmeat sales at 15 markets in Liberia’s two biggest cities - the capital Monrovia and Paynesville - more than halved in just 18 months.

“Together with the LMA we identified women bushmeat sellers who were interested in changing their business and were open to conservation education,” says Annika. “We have trained them in the economic and environmental benefits of protecting wildlife and forests, of getting involved in ecotourism, and also about the dangers of zoonotic diseases. They agreed that within three months they would switch from selling bushmeat to a legal business, and the LMA supported them to stay in the markets selling other products.”

Star of the show is bushmeat seller turned award-winning conservationist Comfort Davis, who now tours Liberian markets with the drama group persuading other women to give up the illegal trade. “Women in Liberia are very strong, very dedicated,” says Annika. “Women do the monitoring, they do the awareness raising - they like being part of a group which is creating change. Women tend to be more open-minded and it is well known that development projects involving women are more successful. If anyone is going to bring positive change to Liberia, it is the women.”

Far from the busy markets of Monrovia and Paynesville, Liberia is home to more than 40 percent of the largest intact remaining rainforest in the vast Upper Guinean forests, which stretches over six West African countries. Despite the 88,000 hectares Gola Rainforest National Park being legally protected since 2016, the twin threats of the illegal wildlife trade and illegal logging are very real. However, those who work to protect the forests say there are signs of hope after decades of destruction. 

“If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said that illegal activities were rampant,” says Michael Garbo, Executive Director of Liberia’s oldest conservation organisation, the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL). “But I believe the authorities are genuinely committed to tackling deforestation and biodiversity crime. They have recruited former illegal loggers to senior positions and are trying to follow all the laws, following the chain of custody process, cracking down on corruption - these are all encouraging signs.”

Michael believes the new government, elected towards the end of 2023, is already making a difference. “Several people who engage in the illegal wildlife and bushmeat trade in and around protected areas have already been prosecuted, fined and even jailed,” says Michael. “The system isn’t perfect but there are signs of progress - these prosecutions are not just an achievement in themselves, they send a message to others who might be tempted to engage in the illegal wildlife trade that the courts take this seriously and are prepared to prosecute and impose stiff sentences. There are gangs in the Gola forest who were formerly heavily engaged in the wildlife and bushmeat trade who are reducing their activities - it may be slow but we are getting there. It’s a similar story with illegal logging - in the past it was very rampant, but the new government is already showing signs of being strong and standing up to the illegal operators.”

Like Annika, Michael is convinced that local communities hold the key to success. “These forest communities play a lead role in conservation, raising awareness and getting people to change their behaviour. We have former hunters who are now members of our eco-guard patrols - the onus is on them, they see for themselves that it is in their interests.

“It’s challenging because many of these people have no work or are very poorly paid. We pay them US$75 to patrol for ten days a month and raise awareness - they get paid to protect the forest so they don’t need to hunt any more. If they know they are going to get paid every month, more people want to become eco-guards. Some communities are even setting up their own patrols and if they see something suspicious, they will report it. They see the value of being in it for the long term.”

Despite significant natural resources including gold, iron ore, water and timber - as well as a largely farming-friendly climate - Liberia is one of the poorest nations in Africa, with nearly 60 percent of the population living below the official World Bank poverty line. Two decades of civil war which ended in 2003, a devastating Ebola outbreak in 2015 and chronic political instability have resulted in widespread food insecurity and malnutrition. Little wonder, says Wim Ellenbroek, a Senior Sustainable Forest Management Expert with the EU-financed Forests for the Future Facility (F4), that forest communities often turn to illegal activities just to survive. “It’s all about economics,” he reflects. “We need to come up with jobs and farms which are better paid, more productive and more sustainable than illegal logging, bushmeat poaching, charcoal production or low-output farming.”

On the table is a €63 million EU funding package to help the new government improve public finance management (PFM), including better budgeting, better auditing and better transparency around forest management and food security. That’s part of an even larger €191 million EU-Liberia development partnership which runs from 2021-2024. As part of its 2024 work plan, the EU delegation to Liberia will continue to support forest regeneration, biodiversity conservation, eco-friendly farming and improved livelihoods for remote local forest communities, including those in the Gola Rainforest National Reserve. 

“Change is slow, but things will change,” says Wim, who recently returned from Liberia where he witnessed the challenges first hand. “We see illegal logging gangs and chainsaw gangs operating inside the community forests and the community cannot get rid of them. We see contractors sign agreements with the communities and then ignore those agreements. They are uncontrolled and often they don’t pay their dues either. The communities lose out both ways - they don’t get the financial benefits and they lose their forests.”

“Then there’s the challenge of wildlife management. Wildlife conservation in itself is not necessarily appealing for these communities - often wildlife is a threat because they eat the crops, especially when animals like elephants come out of the forest in search of food. You won’t always find the community on your side, either on the issue of deforestation or managing wildlife,” Wim adds. “The upside in Liberia is that some of the community forests are quite large. Given their size you could generate quite a substantial flow of revenue from the forests for the community, provided they are managed properly.”

“Liberia is in such dire straits that there is only one way to go, and that is to improve. The authorities see the need to improve public forest governance. It’s clear that local communities have a huge part to play in protecting the forests, and many are already heavily involved. That’s really good to see, and I believe it will continue.”

Michael Garbo agrees that given the right incentives, forest communities could make a decent living in the long term from sustainable agroforestry and farming. “We have shown we can restore degraded forests by establishing conservation-friendly cocoa plantations, which are a good source of income after five or ten years and which don’t damage protected areas,” he explains. “It’s a win-win.”

Many forest communities have come to realise that thriving forests and wildlife can generate significant revenues from eco-tourism. The International Trade Centre (ITC) estimates that eco-tourism has the potential to generate an estimated US$ 200 million in revenue for Liberia between 2021 and 2025. WCF partnered with the Liberian Forestry Development Authority and six local communities to set up the Sapo Ecolodge in the Sapo National Park, around 200 km south east of Monrovia. “We trained the women in catering and hospitality, and as tourist guides,” says Annika. “They also have a shop where they can sell local eco-friendly products such as honey”.

A gentle 45-minute walk through the rainforest from the nearest town, Sapo Ecolodge shows what can be achieved when communities and local authorities work together. After a major refurbishment, the three specially-designed lodges re-opened in 2023 and can now accommodate up to nine guests, each paying up to US$100 a night “Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, so we need to give people an economic reason to change their behaviour, we need to give them other opportunities and support,” says the WCF’s Annika Hillers. “Communities - and in particular the women - must be front and centre of conservation.”

“I’m optimistic about the future because the communities themselves are usually not against conservation.  Very often, those carrying on illegal activities like mining or logging are outsiders, even from other countries. The majority of the local people want to preserve their forest. It’s natural they are thinking of their livelihoods and their daily survival, but they also think about the future - and the future for their children.” 

Or, as the website for this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity makes clear: “When biodiversity has a problem, humanity has a problem.”