User:Smithamos/Providing alternative livelihood to forest community in gola forest

Providing Alternative Livelihood for Community in Forested Areas New article name goes here''' Several communities within Gbarpolu and Grand Capemount counties are benefiting from ‘’’alternative livelihood programs’’’ under the EU funded Across the River Transboundry Peace Park Project (ARTP). The communities are benefiting from a small scale micro loan scheme implemented through a total of 28 groups in five towns in Kongba (Gbarpolu) and two towns in Porkpa (Grand Capemount). Each group consists of 5 members and each member will be receives LD 6,000:00 as a micro loan. Livestock (goats and sheep) herding and Cane Rat (locally referred to as Ground Hug) breeding are also part of the livelihood package as an alternative next to cash benefits. Each selected community in the same category gets 5 pairs of sheep, goat or Cane Rat to begin with. The selected communities have had the chance to attend meetings to learn about the purpose and processes of the Alternative Livelihood. At those meetings, the communities agreed to the terms and conditions of the programs and called on the ARTP to include more people in the program so as to reduce the pressure on the forest for direct livelihood such as hunting, mining and other unacceptable activities in the location. Citizens of the two counties were also calling on the Forestry Development Authority (http://www.fda.gov.lr) and [BirdLife International] (http://www.birdlife.org) to demarcate the area of focus in order to annex the two Golas which will subsequently lead to the establishment of the Peace Park in the two countries, which will help them to properly sensitize their population. The ‘’’Across the River Peace Park’’’ project is an international initiative of the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone that was launched in May 2009 by Presidents Ellen Sirleaf and Ernest Koroma to conserve parts of the Gola Forest found within the borders of the two nations. The project is beign implimented by the two governemnts and [Societ for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia] (SCNL) and the [Conservation Society of Sierra Leone] (CSSL)Meanwhile,[ [Sierra Leone]] has since gone through the process of fulfilling it part of the agreement while Liberia is still at the planning stages of establishing the Liberia Gola National Park.

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