A Brief on the Forestry Outlook Study
Emmanuel K. Alieu
Director of Forests
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Marine Resources
Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Tel: 232-22 34 45; Fax :232- 24 21 28/24 16 13
MICRO-ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES
Forest Management
There is inadequate staff and funding of the Forestry Division. Inefficient supervision of local pole supply contracts are affecting the protection of forests in the Western Area Peninsula forests. The Village Forestry Associations (supported by the Forestry Act, 1998) and the National Association of Farmers of Sierra Leone require support to facilitate community participation in forest management. There are important bird sanctuaries that are being protected and managed with GEF and other donor funding.
Forest Policy and Implementation
There has been a collapse of sector institutions due to the civil conflict.
Lack of Inter-sector Cooperation: There is lack of coordination among the stakeholder ministries.
Inefficient Forest Revenue Systems: A review of the revenue system to reflect market realities is required to increase benefits to forest-dependent communities so as to solicit their cooperation and also to facilitate adequate financing of forest management.
Lack of Investment in the Forestry Sector: there is virtually no public or private investments in forest management.
Forest Industry
Under the trade liberalisation policy, the export of logs has been banned to promote local processing and employment generation. The export of lumber (except packaging wood) was also banned in 1990. Packaging wood is also a construction material for the poor in the country. Fiscal incentives have been given for the importation of sawmilling equipment. The importation of chainsaw as well as the trade in chainsaw lumber is unregulated. Plywood, particleboard, hardboard and match splint are imported. Returnees also import furniture. The logging and sawmilling industries have been affected by political interference and lack of transparency. Most of the machinery is also obsolete. There is lack of local skills in the wood industry sector.
MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES
Energy
The majority of the population (95%) uses kerosene. Its price has been kept relatively constant by subsidy even though the petroleum price increase during the past decade averages 27%. Further increases in the high prices as well as the prices of kerosene and modern stoves will cause many people to switch to firewood.
The consumption of firewood and charcoal is about 6.2 million m3 and 396,000 m3 roundwood equivalent. The 5MW Goma Hydro Electric dam relies on petroleum fuel during the dry season due to low water levels. There is a potential hydropower (i.e. the 305MW Bumbuna Hydro Electric Project) that is expected to be completed by the year 2004. The Bumbuna dam is expected to produce surplus energy for export to neighbouring countries. Other 24 potential hydro-electric sites appear to be under threat from shifting cultivation.
Deforestation
Infrastructure development: There is the need for proper planning of infrastructure developments (e.g. roads, mining etc.) so as to minimise their effects on the forest resources.
Agriculture: The high prices of inorganic fertiliser encourages the cultivation of larger acreage.
The Institute of Agricultural Research and the Rice Research Station have sedentary farming packages for peasant farmers that are yet to be demonstrated in the field. This can have the effect of reducing pressure on the forests and the "uplands".
Economic factors
The economic performance has been poor. A trade deficit balance of about US$34 billion was reported in the 1993/94 period. There is substantial illegal cross border trade in timber products (especially timber and charcoal) within the Mano River Union (MRU). This has been facilitated by the civil strife in the region that has created insecurity on the land and water routes linking the countries in the MRU. The high price differential between lumber from Sierra Leone and the neighbouring countries is also a contributing factor. Per capita income has been decreasing over the past two decades.
Demographic factors
Population growth rate is about 2.5%. About 80% of the population is rural based. There has been about a decade of civil conflict with a resultant destabilisation of about 60% of the population, increased rural-urban migration, and migration outside the country. Among the issues to be addressed as a result of the civil conflict is the rehabilitation of returnees with its attendant requirements for building materials (the construction of about 300,000 housing units nationwide has been planned) and the provision of household energy that will have effect on the extent of forest extraction. There is a mass exodus of labour to the minefields. This has effected the labour availability for agriculture and forestry.
SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT
The questionnaire technique was used to solicit opinions about the likely future impacts of the key driving forces on the forest resource base. Expectations or wishes for some identified driving forces as well as for some related potential projects for the year 2020 have been presented separately. Most of these portray negative trends. But the possibilities of the trends taking place, how they will take place and why are not explained well. In some cases, the actual effects of the forces have been predicted for the future.
The current states of the other driving forces and their future potential have also been described. Proposals are made with respect to policy and institutional changes that are essential to the challenges facing the forestry sector to year 2020. These include capacity building, community forestry development, restructuring/rehabilitation of the forest industry, improvements in inter-sector cooperation and the making of the Forestry Division a semi-autonomous institution so as to motivate and equip it to perform its functions more efficiently.
