Rubber Plantation In Liberia

Gbarnga liberia christopher reeves has farmed rubber for more than three decades in liberia selling his crop to the international tire maker firestone which also operates the world s.

Rubber plantation in liberia.

Firestone established the firestone natural rubber plantation in harbel liberia in 1926. The salala rubber corporation src plantation was established in 1959 and the weala rubber company wrc factory was operational in 1962. In liberia the src salala rubber corporation plantation is a smallholder partnership model. From 1926 until the outbreak of the first liberian civil war in 1990 the firestone natural rubber company was the largest plantation of its kind in the world.

Firestones plantation established in 1926 and leased for 99 years is among the worlds largest rubber plantations. A new documentary firestone and the warlord a joint investigation by frontline and propublica tells the story of firestone s liberia rubber plantation especially during liberia s civil war. However the civil wars of the 1990s and early 2000s were the demise of the rubber industry. Firestone natural rubber company llc is a subsidiary of the bridgestone americas inc headquartered in nashville tn the company operates the largest contiguous rubber plantation in the world in liberia which first opened in 1926.

The area it now covers a coastal low land interspersed with marshes creeks and streams was originally owned and inhabited by the mamba bassa tribes who were evicted from there by the firestone plantations company and the government of liberia during the signing of. Firestone natural rubber co the world s largest contiguous rubber plantation in liberia hasn t done enough to stop pollutants from its processing factory entering nearby water sources. However the firestone agricultural workers union of liberia accused firestone of increasingly reneging on its promises and said its financial condition did. Since the establishment of the firestone plantation in 1926 rubber has been the cornerstone of the liberian economy.

About firestone natural rubber company. In september 1990 rebel npfl forces led by. Harbel liberia bridgestone americas said continued and unsustainable losses mandated the layoff of hundreds of workers at its firestone liberia natural rubber plantation in harbel.