MONROVIA – Today, September 21, 2025, as the world observes the Global Day of Struggle Against Industrial Monoculture, communities across Liberia are rising to declare: Enough is enough! For too long, rubber and oil palm giants have seized our land, destroyed our forests and rivers, and disrespected the lives and dignity of indigenous peoples, women, and children.
The Natural Resource Women Platform (NRWP), Green Advocates International (GAI), and the Alliance for Rural Democracy (ARD), along with our partners and frontline communities, condemn ongoing land grabbing, forced evictions, and environmental destruction caused by multinational corporations— including Sime Darby/Mano Palm Oil, Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC), and the Liberian Agricultural Company (LAC).
From Grand Cape Mount to Sinoe, Margibi, Grand Bassa, and Bomi counties, communities are experiencing a nightmare that’s disguised as “development.” Promises of schools, healthcare, roads, and jobs have fallen apart into poverty, hunger, and despair.
Madam Massa Turay, Chairwoman of the Women from 17 affected communities in Grand Cape Mount, stated: “We are suffering. Our children can’t go to school because there is no bus, the teachers are unpaid, the road to the school is bad, and Mano Oil people don’t care about us.”
A farmer in Gbanfein, under LAC, plainly stated: “We were told the company would improve our lives. We did not know it was not a blessing, but a hell.”
Communities have watched bulldozers destroy their homes and sacred lands. As an elder from Lanco recounted: ‘How could we stay? When the yellow machine arrives, you must leave the village. When they start digging, you are afraid to stay.”
Water sources have been contaminated. In Ceedor, Butau, a town chief said:
“GVL polluted our creek and never gave us the promised hand pump.”
These are not isolated stories. They are the collective cries of Liberians who have lost their farmland, food security, and cultural heritage, all without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Today, we raise our voices to demand:
- Stop land grabbing, pollution, and the destruction of traditional ways of life.
- Renegotiate all concession agreements to benefit communities.
- Respect women’s right to participate equally in all negotiations.
- Promote community ownership of land and resources.
- Ensure accountability—corporations must be held responsible for the harm they’ve caused.
The Government of Liberia must speak up for its people, who are being pushed into despair. We urge the government to support its citizens, not corporations. This is a fight for land, dignity, and survival. On this day of global remembrance, we stand united with defenders worldwide to say: No to industrial monoculture. Yes, to community rights and justice!