118/119 Biodiversity and Tropical Forest Assessment for Sierra Leone

THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY AND CAUSES OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS
The principal threats to biodiversity loss in Sierra Leone can be attributed broadly to
unsustainable land use practices, the influence of the mining industry, and lack of appropriate
fisheries management. However, these direct causes strongly linked to the civil conflict, poverty,
and the absence of adequate employment and alternative livelihoods in Sierra Leone. An
examination of the causes that threaten species, ecosystems, and ecoregions is presented below.
However, very few long-term studies or monitoring programs are tracking trends in threats to
biodiversity. Monitoring programs could be conducted efficiently if integrated as part of longterm
study programs of universities and research organizations.
LAND USE
When traveling the major upcountry roads in Sierra Leone, one can witness the tangible and
pervasive evidence of agricultural practices that are resulting in the reduction of forest cover.
Visual observation is directly supported by the current figures regarding human population
(nearly 6 million) and loss of forest cover (less than 5 percent of original cover remaining).
These losses must be researched further in order to develop effective remediation programs.
Sierra Leone has a total land area of approximately 7.2 million hectares, about 5.4 million of
which is cultivable. (About 4.3 million hectares are low fertile arable upland and 1.1 million
hectares of more fertile arable swamps.) 11 With nearly 80 percent of the labor force depending
upon this land for their agricultural subsistence activities (largely slash-and-burn, with rice
cultivation making up the bulk of the subsistence activity), the overall health of these lands will
depend upon how well farmers are able to maintain the soil, water, and living resources. The
combined effects of poor farming practices — shifting cultivation, recurrent bushfires and
overgrazing, increasing population, ensuing shortening of fallow periods of land — have all been
identified as contributing factors to soil erosion resulting in land degradation.
At present, forest resources are subjected to increasing deforestation due to the rapidly growing
population and consequent demand for more agricultural land, urban requirement for timber and
fuelwood, mining for minerals, and recurrent bush fires. With population pressure and
commercialization today, the rate of exploitation has far outstripped the rate of regeneration by
natural means. The result is deforestation and an acute threat to biodiversity.
This problem is especially acute if the protection and maintenance of biodiversity in Sierra
Leone is predicated on its ability to manage its protected areas. Currently, there are only limited
circumstances (Gola, Tiwai, and perhaps Outamba Kilimi National Park) in which ecosystem
functions appear to be protected and maintained. The lack of any agreed-upon management
scenarios for the vast majority of the protected areas is leading to encroachment, resource
degradation, and loss of function of ecosystem services from these areas.
According to a study completed in 2004, 12 logging, firewood collection, and mining ranked as
the top three activities contributing to unsustainable land uses. The report indicated that poverty,
corruption, and low public awareness were the top three indirect reasons for these practices.
11 Lands and Water Division, 1999
12 Koroma A. P., 2004. “Causes of Forest Loss and Degradation and Issues of Unsustainable Forestry in Sierra Leone.”
SIERRA LEONE BIODIVERSITY AND TROPICAL FOREST ASSESSMENT 26