Concept Paper. Delineating Activities of the William R. Tolbert Jr. Foundation

Transcription

1 Concept Paper Delineating Activities of the William R. Tolbert Jr. Foundation Dr. William R. Tolbert, Jr. Vice President Republic of Liberia th President of the Republic of Liberia Former President of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Former President Liberian Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (LBMEC) Former Pastor of Zion Praise Baptist Church Father, Uncle, Brother, Friend 0

2 Table of Contents William R. Tolbert Jr Presidential Library, Museum, and Research Center Pg. 2 The William R. Tolbert Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund.Pg.5 The William R. Tolbert Jr. Zoological and Botanical Gardens..Pg. 6 1

3 William R. Tolbert, Jr. Presidential Library, Museum, and Research Center Above: The Homestead of President and Mrs. William R. Tolbert Jr Below: Architectural design of renovated structure 2

4 The mission of the William R Tolbert, Jr. Presidential Library, Museum, and Research Center is to collect, preserve, and make available for research, documents, speeches, audiovisual, personal papers and photographs chronicling the life, career, and administration of President William R. Tolbert Jr. President William R. Tolbert Jr. 3

5 The Presidential Library and Museum will highlight his achievements in public service, the political, economic, and social reforms initiated by his administration, and the causes he championed. The Research Center will serve as a research institute and independent policy think tank, making available Liberian and African economic, social, and political data for analysis by scholars, analysts, students and practitioners. A proponent of good governance, the center will promote progressive policies while profiling African reformers and Liberian change makers in the social, political and economic sectors. The Research Institute will utilize the Varieties of Democracy (V-DEM) Project dataset to comparatively assess within country trends and crossnational trends in African political, economic, and social development. (see example below) Regional conferences will be organized to share research, establish working papers, and assess progress and reversals in African governance, democracy, and development. A limited number of research grants will be provided to individuals conducting research at the library and research institute. 4

6 Leadership development will also be another key programmatic area of the Center. In partnership with the Pointman Leadership Institute, The Center will conduct leadership workshops and training for emerging and established leaders in the public, private, and social sector, with an emphasis on character-based, principled leadership, ethics in management, and corruption prevention. Since 2005, Pointman Leadership Teams in collaboration with the Restoration of Educational Advancement Programs (REAP, led by Christine Tolbert Norman) have trained well over a thousand leaders in Liberia (17 training missions). Delegate audiences have varied widely including Ministry Leaders, Lawmakers, Administrators of various agencies, Security Forces, and Judiciary. Simultaneously multiple global agencies assessing national corruption have signaled that Liberia has made dramatic positive change over the last 7 years. One may conclude that PLI training and Liberia s improvement in combatting corruption is more than coincidence. The William R. Tolbert Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund The William R. Tolbert Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund which was launched at the Centennial Celebration of the Life and Legacy of President Tolbert is designed to assist qualified Liberian applicants obtaining degrees from accredited academic institutions of higher learning in various academic disciplines. As a visionary, one of Dr. Tolbert greatest achievements was to educate children and individuals from various parts of the world, to build an intellectually sound and stable society. He especially empowered Liberia women and men through education and the promotion of the value of hard work to maintain gainful employment and economic sustainability. The fund which was endowed by the Tolbert family will provide $10,000 a year to 5 Liberian students over the next 10 years. 5

7 William R. Tolbert Jr. Zoological and Botanical Gardens The Tolbert family has bequeathed to the Liberian Government 30 acres of land for the establishment of the William R. Tolbert Jr. Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Liberia contains two of West Africa s three largest remaining rainforest blocks containing many plants and animal species that are endemic and whose survival is severely threatened. These forest areas have also been internationally recognized as a biodiversity Hotspot and, therefore, are a priority for global conservation efforts. Recognizing that no facilities exist in Liberia to educate and create the kind of awareness for public appreciation and knowledge about the natural environment, the Zoological and Botanical gardens will serve such a function while being integrated into the training and educational programs of the William R. Tolbert, Jr. College of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Liberia. Map 1: Regional forest cover - Guinean Forest Hotspot of West Africa Biologically, Liberia is exceptionally diverse, with high rates of endemism and many species that are nearly extinct outside the country. Liberia is home to approximately 125 mammal species, 590 bird species, 162 native fish species, 74 known reptiles and amphibians and over 1000 described insect species. 6

8 Important faunal species include the endangered African golden cat (Profelis aurata), Jentink s (Cephalophus jentinki) and Zebra Duikers (C. zebra), forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis); primates such as the endangered Diana monkey (Cercopithecus Diana), red colobus (Procolobus badius) and the western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes versus). The pygmy hippopotamus, Hexaprotodon liberiensis. Liberia happens to be home of the last strongholds of these endangered animal, which is unique to the forests of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The Pygmy hippopotamus, Hexaprotodon liberiensis Forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) Jentink s Duiker (Cephalophus jentinki) Zebra Duiker (C. zebra) 7

9 Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus Diana) and Red Colobus (Procolobus badius) In December 1999, The West African Conservation Priority-Setting Exercise for the Upper Guinean Ecosystem (funded by the Global Environment Facility) identified Liberia as by far the top priority country in Humid West Africa for conservation. Botanical knowledge of Liberia is poorer than for any other country in the Upper Guinean Ecosystem. However, Liberia is thought to contain over 2,900 flowering plants including 240 timber species. Given that no systematic inventories have ever been carried out of southeast and northwest Liberia s flora, or its insects, amphibians, arachnids, gastropods or other animal species displaying a high degree of dependence on specific plant hosts, the uniqueness of Liberia s flora and fauna can only be surmised (FDA/LFI 2006) 8

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