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Good practice Imported

ArcelorMittal Nimba Biodiversity Offset — East Nimba Nature Reserve Co-Management (Liberia)

Liberia · Yekepa · See the Liberia profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 90% 27/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

ArcelorMittal Liberia funds co-management of the 11,533 ha East Nimba Nature Reserve, home to chimpanzees, the Nimba toad and otter shrew, as its offset; a 2014 FFI-brokered plan engaged 25 communities, though critics call it a conflict-of-interest paradox.

ArcelorMittal Nimba Biodiversity Offset — East Nimba Nature Reserve Co-Management (Liberia)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
ArcelorMittal Liberia, with Fauna & Flora International, Conservation International and Liberia's Forestry Development Authority
Period
2003–present (AML funding since 2013)
Keywords
iron ore mining, biodiversity offset, protected-area co-management

Context

ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) mines iron ore in the Nimba mountain range, part of a globally significant biodiversity hotspot shared with Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire. The company's biodiversity offset centres on the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR), an 11,533-hectare protected area gazetted by the Liberian government in 2003 adjoining AML's concession.

Objectives

In 2013 AML proposed funding a specialist conservation organisation to professionalise the reserve's management, protecting range-restricted species including the Critically Endangered Nimba toad, the Nimba otter shrew and the Western chimpanzee.

Activities

Fauna & Flora International was recruited and, together with Conservation International and the Forestry Development Authority, produced a Management Plan validated in March 2014 after consultation with 25 surrounding communities. A Co-Management Committee of six community and six government representatives, established in 2010, continues to oversee the reserve, with further support from USAID/PROSPER. AML funds ongoing forest-cover monitoring, wildlife surveys and ranger patrols as part of its wider Biodiversity Conservation Programme.

Results

A Management Plan was validated in March 2014, described by FFI as a first-of-its-kind participatory co-management process in Liberia, engaging 25 communities.

Conclusions

A 2026 Mongabay feature on the documentary 'Overburden' highlights the structural tension at the heart of the arrangement: the same company responsible for mountaintop removal at nearby Mount Tokadeh is also the reserve's principal funder and most visible conservation spokesperson. No published, quantified reconciliation of forest or species loss at the mine site against gains at ENNR is available to confirm a genuine net biodiversity benefit.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No cost figures for the conservation/offset programme are stated in the source (only the adjoining mining operation is described); conservatively estimated as 'medium', noted as inferred, not stated.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Reserve gazetted 2003; AML funding and co-management structure running since 2010/2013, ongoing to present (>3 years).
Staffing & skills
Fauna & Flora International (recruited to professionalise reserve management), Conservation International, Liberia's Forestry Development Authority, Co-Management Committee (6 community + 6 government representatives, since 2010), USAID/PROSPER (additional support)

Conditions for success

  • Participatory Management Plan process engaging 25 surrounding communities
  • Balanced Co-Management Committee structure (equal community and government representation)
  • Multi-partner delivery (FFI, Conservation International, government forestry authority, USAID) spreading technical capacity

Common failure modes

  • Structural conflict of interest: the funding company also operates nearby mining that removes habitat, and is simultaneously the reserve's principal funder and spokesperson
  • No independent, quantified reconciliation of biodiversity loss at the mine versus gains at the reserve is published

Where it fits

Governance type
corporate-funded, NGO co-managed with government
Scale
single protected area (11,533 ha)
Income level
low-income

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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