June 2, 2021
By: Dadson A. Musa
Sierra Leone, located along the west coast of Africa has lush green vegetation and blessed with fine timber. This timber used to provide forest cover for a good part of the country and had other benefits of environmental and other ecological factors. And foreign counties have seen how beneficial our timber is so they have been cashing in without regard to the effects of their activities. The rate of depleting our forest cover is taking place country-wide but it has got worse in the Northern Province. In the districts of Koinadugu, Karene and Falaba the situation seems to be getting out of hands. The Chinese, Nigerians and Ghanians are the foreigners who are neck-deep into the trade. They are going about it without regard to the environmental consequences. Our forest cover is fast depreciating and foreigners are reaping huge financial rewards leaving the country vulnerable. Worst of it all the timber traders are cutting down young trees just for trading purposes not giving chance for trees to grow. Timber logging is going on in the country at large but it is worst in the northern province as the forest in Kenema and Kailahun districts remain largely intact.
Senior forestry officials in the Forestry Department in the Ministry of Agriculture when contacted confirmed the ‘indiscriminate logging of timber and expressed regret, lamenting the further vulnerability that it is exposing our country to. ‘The negative impact outweighs the economic benefit of the trade.’ They acknowledge that there has to be ‘the political will to stop the indiscriminate logging of timber in our country to save generations yet unborn.’ One of the remedial measures they are putting in place is ‘tree planting’. And over 1,100,000 forest trees were planted last year which they are going to continue with for the next five years. The Director of Forestry, Madame Garnet has complained of interference from very powerful figures in government which has prevented them from carrying out punitive measures against law breakers. According to her until this stop they are going to find it impossible to regulate timber trade in this country.
A five-month ban has been placed on all timber trade in this country starting 1st June 2021 which is to go on until 31st October 2021. Timber harvesters also have a responsibility to this country in the sense that they must ensure the environment is protected for generations yet unborn. And they are proffering the solution of government encouraging investors to come and set up industries that will make sure the raw timber is manufactured into finished furniture for export which will give us value for money. Another solution proffered was forest landscape restoration which will help mitigate the effect of logging in the country. Alternative means of livelihood especially mechanized farming must be encouraged by government as it is more sustainable than the subsistence slash and burn. The Chairman of the parliamentary oversight committee on the environment, Yusuf Macrae could not pick up his phone when contacted for his position on this issue.