Funded by the European Union, this €9 million initiative aims to strengthen conservation across nineteen chiefdoms adjacent to key protected landscapes in the country. Up to €5 million will be available as grants for chiefdoms to develop and pilot their own conservation initiatives.

At the weekly government press conference, key stakeholders identified the urgency to tackle deforestation, which has increased over the last decade. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Jiwoh Abdulai, stressed the vital connection between forest preservation and human survival.

While highlighting the government’s “Protect Sierra Leone” program launched earlier this year, Minister Abdulai noted the role of traditional leaders and communities in sustainable forest management. He announced plans to regulate wood fuel sources by promoting subsidised gas and designating charcoal production areas to reduce deforestation pressure.

Yvonne Forsen, Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, reflected on the ongoing challenges posed by deforestation since the 2017 mudslide tragedy. “The project provides the hope that we desperately need now,” she said. “It does include nineteen chiefdoms, and collectively we now will have the responsibility to show that that way of working really works because it's not only the EU that is supposed to be funding this. Once we prove that the nineteen chiefdoms have moved and succeeded in protecting their forests and the environment, then others will come. We need to show that we have a blueprint that really works, so I am really excited that we will see some change.” Forsen also underlined the importance of using satellite data to monitor forest loss and guide conservation efforts, emphasising the role of community empowerment in local land-use planning, alternative livelihoods and green infrastructure supported by technical and financial assistance.

In response to this community-driven approach, Paramount Chief Mima Kajue of Mano Dasseh chiefdom, Moyamba District, highlighted local measures to prevent forest degradation, including instituting fines against charcoal burning and promoting swamp farming as a sustainable alternative.

Holger Rommen, European Union Team Lead for Infrastructure and Rural Development, praised Sierra Leone's leadership and reiterated EU support through the €9 million (over 250 billion Leones) investment, which seeks to empower local communities as key stewards of ecosystems. “