By: Saidu Jalloh
At a press conference held at the Miatta Conference Center, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Jiwoh Abdulai, raised urgent concerns about the accelerating loss of forest cover in Sierra Leone. He called on residents—especially those in the Western Area to take immediate action in safeguarding the nation’s natural resources.
Minister Abdulai reflected on the launch of the Protect Sierra Leone Program in March 2025, an initiative focused on conserving biodiversity through sustainable practices, habitat restoration, and community involvement. He shared that, building upon this foundation, the Ministry and its partners had introduced the Nature Nourishes Project. This initiative targets communities near wetlands and forests to encourage local stewardship of natural ecosystems.
Funded by the European Union, the project will focus on communities surrounding major protected areas, empowering residents to take an active role in conservation efforts.
Minister Abdulai highlighted the key drivers of environmental degradation, identifying timber logging, encroachment for building, illegal mining, stone mining, and charcoal burning as the primary contributors to deforestation. He emphasized that these activities not only threaten wildlife and biodiversity but also endanger the availability of clean drinking water.
He issued a direct appeal to residents of the Western Area to protect water catchment zones and avoid constructing buildings near the Tacugama Sanctuary—both for their own safety and to preserve one of the country’s most important wildlife reserves.
The Minister also revealed that between May 2024 and April 2025, Sierra Leone lost 713 hectares of forest in the Western Area Peninsula National Park, 2,152 hectares across the Outamba Kilimi and Gola Rainforest National Parks, and 840 hectares in Loma Mountain National Park. Notably, Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary saw no loss of forest cover.
“These figures serve as a clear warning,” Minister Abdulai stated. “Protecting our forests is no longer a choice it is an urgent necessity for the survival of our communities and the health of our environment.”