Experts from Earthworm Foundation (formerly TFT) and members of GAR’s Sustainability Team conducted field assessments in September 2018.  This resulted in a set of recommendations and an action plan which was agreed by GVL.  The GVL team has been implementing the action plan since November 2018 including:

1. Engagement with communities to discuss and negotiate the conversion of provisional MoUs to permanent MoUs (Numopoh, Tartweh, and Kabada/Nitran,) and resolution of key issues in permanent MOUs (Du-Wollee, Butaw, and Tarjouwon). The communities were advised that the national Bureau of Concessions (NBC) was making arrangements to assist them with legal counsel (in addition to the communities’ own legal counsel of choice) in efforts to interpret their MOU/SAs as part of the conversion process.
2. Review and updating of HCV/HCS areas, including preparation to rehabilitate encroached areas.
3. Restructuring of the Sustainability Department and recruitment of additional personnel.
4. Management realignment to ensure senior management oversight of sustainability practices and tighter coordination between field operations, sustainability and compliance teams.
5. Training of field operations and sustainability team members and management on sustainability-related processes and SOPs.
6. Review and updating of sustainability related policies and SOPs.
7. Initiation of a monthly Chimpanzee monitoring programme (in Kpanyan Estate, with extension to Tarjouwon Estate)

Experts from Earthworm Foundation are expected to be back in the field with GVL starting March 2019.