“The Government has managed Protected Areas (PA) for over one hundred years. However, the sizes of these protected areas are dwindling and there are lots of encroachments and degradations and government is also challenged,” Alhaji Minkailu Siaka, Consultant National Protected Area Authority said.
The National Protected Area Authority (NPAA) and Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) were established by an Act of Parliament to exercise oversight authority over National Parks and Protected Areas. Prior to this, there were over 48 forest reserves in the country but with the establishment of the NPAA, 15 of these have been transferred under their mandate. However, the country’s recent history of conflict as well as the current state of its economy posed many challenges to effective management of protected areas, wildlife and biodiversity conservation.
The NPAA and CTF on Tuesday 21 November 2017 concluded a two day deliberation on Legal Policy Framework and Guidelines for the involvement of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), and community based organisations (CBOs) and Private Sector in the Protected Area (PA) management.
The meeting brought together over 50 participants from various CSOs and NGOs active in conservation and biodiversity at the Police Officers Mess on Kingtom in Freetown, in order to discuss partnership arrangement that will enhance NPAA role in PA management; to develop legal policy framework and guidelines for NGOs, CSOs and private sector involvement in protected area management. The draft Legal Policy Framework aims at improving on the monitoring of the use of forest and protected areas resources; and also ensuring active participation of community. It includes government- community partnership for PA management; government-private sector partnership for PA management; Government NGO/CSO partnership for PA management. It also includes laws governing protected areas and suggestion on the implementations of these laws.
Addressing stakeholders, the Chair of the NPAA, Nana Pratt, stressed the need for partnership noting that the NPAA can’t fulfil its mandate alone. She also stressed the need to protect the environment stating, “The environment is our life. Before this time people respect the environment because they believe that it constitute their life and so they naturally do what the NPAA have been given the legal mandate to do- protect the flora and the fauna”.
Pratt also pointed to the rich biodiversity of the country adding that the species that have been attracting tourists have already been endangered. She urged all to protect the flora and fauna and to proffer solutions to the problems they identify.
During the deliberations, the consultants did a presentation on the draft legal policy framework as well as the guidelines. The consultants stressed on the importance of partnership. According to Siaka, the involvement of communities was very significant in partnership. “The conventional method of managing the environment has been excluding the people so what we want to do is to look at how we can create a partnership. The resources are there but if you exclude the communities they will go there to exploit it illegally”. Siaka said the document will bring significant change in the life of people; it will contribute to bringing in more revenue to the communities themselves; it will also contribute to the management of the parks and therefore maintain it ecological services.
Participants at the end of the deliberations made several recommendations and suggestions in order to ensure that a well-structured document is developed.
Some recommendations from the participants includes, training of law enforcers; creating an opportunity for education and research; recognition of tradition and community-based bye-laws; enforcement of sanctions to be done in collaboration with communities, among others.
ES/21/11/17
By Edna Smalle
Wednesday November 22, 2017.