The Natural Resource Women Platform (NRWP) joins the global community in commemorating World Environment Day, observed on Friday, June 5, 2026. This important international day serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent need to protect and restore the environment and to promote sustainable practices that safeguard the well-being of present and future generations.

World Environment Day remains one of the most significant global platforms for environmental awareness and action. It brings together governments, civil society organizations, community-based groups, and individuals to reflect on pressing environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, deforestation, and the unsustainable use of natural resources. It also offers an opportunity to renew commitments to building healthier ecosystems, stronger communities, and a more sustainable future.

In Liberia, environmental challenges continue to threaten ecosystems and livelihoods. Communities are increasingly affected by deforestation and forest degradation, unsustainable mining and extractive activities, climate-related impacts on agriculture and food security, threats to community land rights, and the gradual loss of Indigenous seeds, biodiversity, and traditional ecological knowledge. These challenges disproportionately affect rural women, who rely heavily on land, forests, water, and other natural resources to support their families, sustain local economies, and strengthen community resilience.

As an organization committed to advancing the rights, voices, and livelihoods of women engaged in natural resource governance, NRWP recognizes that environmental sustainability is deeply intertwined with gender equality, social justice, and community well-being. Women are often among the most affected by environmental degradation and climate-related shocks. Yet they remain at the forefront of efforts to protect natural resources, preserve Indigenous knowledge, strengthen food systems, and build resilient communities.

Over the past year, NRWP has continued to support women and communities through practical initiatives that advance environmental sustainability and climate resilience. These efforts include climate-smart agriculture training for women farmers in Bomi County, Indigenous seed preservation initiatives, Community Seed Fairs that promote local seed diversity and food sovereignty, advocacy for community land rights and environmental justice, and support for Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) who protect natural resources and advance gender equality. Through these interventions, NRWP is helping to strengthen women’s leadership and meaningful participation in environmental decision-making and natural resource governance.

NRWP also continues to promote community-led solutions to environmental challenges by encouraging sustainable farming, biodiversity conservation, Indigenous seed preservation, climate adaptation, and responsible natural resource management. The organization believes that meaningful and lasting environmental protection can be achieved only when communities, particularly women, are empowered to participate fully in decisions that affect their lands, resources, and futures.

As we commemorate World Environment Day 2026, NRWP reaffirms its commitment to environmental stewardship, climate justice, gender equality, and sustainable development. We call on government institutions, development partners, civil society organizations, private-sector actors, and local communities to strengthen collaboration and collective action to address Liberia’s environmental challenges and protect the natural resources on which current and future generations depend.

NRWP further encourages women, youth, and community leaders across Liberia to champion environmental protection by promoting sustainable agriculture, protecting forests and water sources, reducing environmental degradation, preserving Indigenous knowledge systems, and supporting climate-resilient livelihoods in their communities.

On this World Environment Day, let us recognize that protecting the environment is a shared responsibility. NRWP therefore calls on all stakeholders to place women and local communities at the center of environmental protection, climate action, and natural resource governance.

Together, we can build a greener, more just, and more resilient Liberia where women, communities, and ecosystems thrive.

Issued by:
Natural Resource Women Platform (NRWP)