Integrated Development and Learning, Liberia
IDL in the News
Liberia holds the largest remaining tract of Upper Guinea rainforest — 6.6 million hectares (ha), over two-thirds of which is on community customary land. Yet deforestation exceeds 2% per year, driven by unregulated mining and the expansion of migrant cocoa production.
Integrated Development and Learning (IDL) was initially established to take over IDH’s landscape program in Liberia, building on IDH Liberia team’s capacities and committed partners in the two landscapes in Liberia. IDL was registered with the Government of Liberia in 2024 and is led by Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor, a Whitely Award winner in 2002, a 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize recipient, and a Time Magazine Heroes of the Environment in 2008.
IDL aims to promote integrated development in rural Liberia by bringing together community-based organizations, community legal entities, local government, farmers, and other social groups to plan and implement development priorities, balancing social, environmental, and economic considerations. The organization’s goal is to improve social and economic conditions in rural areas through the development of agriculture- and forest-friendly small businesses, enhance forest and land governance and management, and create an enabling environment for all stakeholders to collaborate. IDL focuses on four thematic areas.
IDL aims to promote integrated development in rural Liberia by bringing together community-based organizations, community legal entities, local government, farmers, and other social groups to plan and implement development priorities, balancing social, environmental, and economic considerations. The organization’s goal is to improve social and economic conditions in rural areas through the development of agriculture- and forest-friendly small businesses, enhance forest and land governance and management, and create an enabling environment for all stakeholders to collaborate. IDL focuses on four thematic areas.