We succeeded in planting 1.1m trees in 2020 – Environment Minister

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Minister of Environment Professor Foday M. Jaward has disclosed that as part of their afforestation process, they successfully planted 1.1 million tress in 2020 out of their 1.2 million target for the year. He made this disclosure in an interview after facing the Sectorial Sub Appropriation Committee of Supply on Environment on his ministry’s budget.

According to the Environment Minister, since November 2019 his ministry has done several engagements to raise awareness, create sensitivity about the importance of tree planting, and that they successfully hosted the Wangari Mattai Day with the target of planting five million tress in the next couple of years.

He disclosed that they embarked on tress planting because Sierra Leone is the third most climatically vulnerable country in the world. Speaking on their strategies to protect Sierra Leone from getting worse, the Environment Minister maintained they started with deforestation, which is really eating into the fabric of the country, explaining that some people are cutting down trees for charcoal, timber logging and agriculture, among others.

“My idea is to reduce charcoal burning by working with the Ministry of Trade, the National Revenue Authority and the government to have waivers on Lean Propane Gas which will reduce its price from Le85,000 to maybe Le50,000,” he said, maintaining that this sounds better than having two bags of charcoal that also pollute the air during cooking.

He assured that reducing the price of cooking gas will definitely go a long way to discourage people from using charcoal, adding that they also have to put some radical measures in place by banning transportation of charcoal on government vehicles, stopping builders from using sticks as scaffold, as they should start using metal plate alternatives.

Minister Jaward assured that they have started providing alternatives to charcoal burners in Dasse Chiefdom by providing food and other household items, tools, which clearly prohibit the people in that chiefdom from engaging in cutting trees or charcoal burning.

On timber logging and exporting that immensely contributes to the country’s economy but also negatively to deforestation, he cited sustainable development; engage in development while also taking care of the environment at the same time.

“There is no development without mitigation effect on the environment not even timber logging,” he assured, explaining that what they stress on is; if someone cuts one tree, they should plant four even if it might take 8 or 10 years for the trees to grow to maturity, “they should embark on it as a way of saving the environment.” AMK/4/12/2020

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