Monrovia, Liberia – Earlier this month an independent investigation in Liberia found that over a thousand hectares of a sensitive and already-threatened forest ecosystem in the Upper Guinean Rainforest had been cleared. The finding was the result of the first formal complaint heard by the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), an environmental auditing body. The perpetrator, Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), is a project of the world’s second largest palm oil company, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR). Internationally, GAR supplies palm oil to leading retail brands including Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Mondelez and Nestle. One of a small number of multinational companies growing palm oil in West Africa, GVL operates its plantation on lands that are customarily owned by Liberian communities. The region also serves as a habitat for endangered, endemic species, including chimpanzees and pygmy hippopotami.