A decade ago, Liberia's forests were being stripped bare by warlords to fund a vicious 14-year civil war that left 150,000 dead...[Now,] government...has signed a deal with the European Union to place timber sales on a permanently legal footing. The deal, agreed to this month, makes use of a unique national timber-tracking system that requires every legally harvestable tree and every cut log to carry a barcode that will enable it to be tracked from its origin to its final destination...Starting in early 2013, the EU will require all companies importing timber to demonstrate that it has been legally harvested...Many in Liberia say that such technocratic initiatives are bound to fail because the country is suffering from an extreme form of the phenomenon known as the "resource curse," where natural riches bring strife and poverty rather than wealth and stability. [Helveta, Firestone, Buchanan Renewables, ArcelorMittal, Sime Darby, Carbon Harvesting, Oriental Timber]