By: Haja Hawa Koroma
On Wednesday 15th June 2022, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio delivered a keynote note address at the site visit of Miro Forestry Company.
At the start of his speech, the president stated that when they normally think about meeting the resource needs of a growing population, the issues of food and water security often comes to mind. But there is another type of resource which is wood that also deserves equal attention as this resource has rising demands and its supply do not only present problems for consumers, but also has direct and devastating impacts on our natural ecosystems and on our climate.
“Unfortunately, most of the global demand for wood has historically been met by cutting down natural forests. Although agriculture continues to be the leading driver of global deforestation and degradation, demand for wood has had greater deforestation impacts in certain areas” the President added.
According to H. E, deforestation is also a major contributor of global carbon dioxide emissions, second only to fossil fuels. However, forest plantations are in a position to change this trend now. This is why he is particularly delighted for the visit at MIRO operating site because they have a shared belief of trees being the primary solution to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
President Bio mentioned that, the main benefit of ensuring wood production through sustainable sources, is that forest plantations take pressure off our natural forests, because the more wood and fiber products derived from the plantations, the less it will be necessary to extract from the natural forests which will be conserved for other values such as economic, ecological, and social forest plantations.
It is commendable to note that for over a decade in Sierra Leone, MIRO has been engaged in the setting up and building of large-scale forestry plantations with processing facilities of wood products, and they have been doing a very good job over the past five years. The president hopes that this trend will continue over the years.
The president further stated that he was filled with gratitude and pride when Andrew Collins, the Group’s CEO finger-jointed Edge Glue Boards produced in Sierra Leone were exported to Europe with great prominence promoting a “Made in Sierra Leone” product. He therefore, used the opportunity to encourage MIRO to accelerate its plan in exporting the MIRO’s Electricity Poles, made in Sierra Leone, to other West African Countries.
H. E expressed his commitment to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation. He added that they have embarked on a National Tree Planting Project since 2018 to increase public awareness around deforestation and the benefits of increased community involvement in establishing forests, as his Government is committed to implementing policies and practices that would support sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation.
The President promised that Five million trees will be planted by 2023 on approximately 12,500 hectares of degraded lands and coastal areas all over Sierra Leone. He stated that Last year, over 3,000 hectares of degraded lands were restored by planting 1.2 million trees and this created 750 permanent and over 6,000 temporary jobs.
He added that this year, 1.6 million trees will be planted again using the Community- Based Forest Management (CBFM) approach which constitutes a paradigm shift from a centrally controlled forest development and governance to a local community-based leadership across the board. The Ministry of Environment has identified qualified NGOs, CBOs and youth groups as Service providers for the out planting and maintenance of the tree seedlings.
The president mentioned that for such commitments, there will definitely be some challenges to be faced and there is need for a long-term strategy that should focus on, Promoting the expansion of Local Industries in the provinces, Encouraging the establishment of sustainable economic centers in rural areas and large scale foreign direct investment in the Forestry sector in Sierra Leone, Continuing the expansion of local production of wood and fiber products for the local and export markets, Increasing the established production capacity of Forestry Projects so as to alleviate its dependency on imported products and boost exports and balance of trade, Welcoming labor-intensive industries which provide stable income and training to its workforce, Supporting the natural regeneration of forests and aiding to it via planting of trees suitable to our ecosystems, Expanding environmental education program that aims at addressing the root causes of land degradation and deforestation, with the goal of finding a permanent and sustainable forestry solution and lastly, Continuing with efforts to offer alternative livelihood support to communities with the aim of permanently changing their behaviors that is detrimental to the environment and assumed commitments.
President Bio urges all Sierra Leoneans to take tree planting as a habit and a culture and to establish forest plantations nationwide, using MIRO Forestry and Timber Products as an example to emulate, because Trees remain an important source of energy and a pillar of livelihood in a developing country such as S/L. Therefore it is imperative that with every tree that falls for a useful purpose, another must be planted for the preservation of the environment.
He therefore encourages local and international partners to establish different forest plantations across the nation for democracy, for peace, for love and for a greener, healthier, and more resilient future for us all.
