The National Rural/Social Development and Outreach Expert of Sierra Leone’s biodiversity conservation project, Abdul A. Jalloh has complained that the network of 48 forest reserves and conservation areas, which represents about 4% of the total land area, is faced with extreme pressure as a result of “unsustainable natural resources exploitation from human activities.”
He noted that the undue destruction of these natural endowments emanates from illegal logging, destructive fishing activities, expansion of grazing and slash and burn agriculture leading to soil erosion and land depletion.
He went on to say that Sierra Leone, being part of the western extremity of the upper Guinea forest of West Africa which is rich in biodiversity, in 2003 produced and adopted the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) which outlines the status of the nation’s various eco-systems and biological resources and highlights the threats to the existence and performance of these systems.
Sadly he noted “past efforts to protect the countries natural resources have been hampered by problems of weak policies and laws, insufficient funds to support protected areas management, lack of alternative livelihood activities for communities living adjacent to these protected areas, and low levels of public education on sustainable natural resource management.”
Abdul Jalloh noted that it is against this backdrop that the forestry division of the Agriculture Ministry and the government of Sierra Leone developed the Sierra Leone Biodiversity Conservation Project in 2005.
He said that the project kicked-off implementation in June 2011 and will run for 42 months. Its overall aim is to help build the capacity of governmental institutions, in particular the forestry division to carry out their mandates effectively by engaging local communities, local government, and other stakeholders to participate in effective conservation planning and management at three priority conservation sites namely: Loma Mountains Non Hunting Forest in Koinadugu District, Kangari Hills Non Hunting Forest Reserves shared between Tonkolili and Bo districts and Outamba-Kilimi National Park located in the Bombali District.
Mr. Jalloh’s presentation further explained the roles, successes, challenges and program components of the biodiversity conservation project and how much impact the project has created in conserving biodiversity.
By Poindexter Sama
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