State of Forests and Plantations
Deforestation Pressure
During the next 2 decades, the area of legally constituted forest estates will continue to decrease due to urban and agricultural expansion which will permanently change the landuse. In cases such as encroachments for mining, the forest land could be replanted at the end of the mining operation.
About10% of the country’s land area (both government controlled estates and salvage areas) comprising of closed forests would have been deforested at the rate of about 1.5% - 2.0% per annum thereby increasing the area under forest regrowth currently occupying 60% of the country’s total land area.
Fate of Community Forests
Chiefdom Authorities would have succeeded in re-claiming most of the communal forests currently under government control mostly for agricultural expansion; the expansion of rural settlements; the establishment of new settlements etc. Road construction, particularly logging roads would have "opened up " hitherto remote and inaccessible areas to further fuel encroachment on the estates and wildlife exploitation.
Natural regeneration of logged out forests will be adversely affected by the activities of shifting cultivators who would normally find it difficult to cultivate primary forests comprising of giant trees using rudimentary farming tools and the type of logging and extraction methods instituted.
Plantation Establishment
Replacement of natural forests with plantations of fast growing (relatively low quality timber) species will be the rule, on economic grounds, and probably due to the limited knowledge on the silviculture of the indigenous high value timber species. Funding possibilities permitting, plantations will expand at the expense of natural forests. Most of the mahoganies would have been seriously depleted except in strict Nature Reserves, provided these could be effectively protected.
Plantations established in the 60s to 80´s would have been harvested or naturally depleted and replaced to some extent. A few instances of Gmelina arborea and Terminalia ivorensis "die back;" currently experienced nation-wide, could have reduced the quality of the forest crop in the affected plantations. Due to the lack of maintenance, most of the forest crop in plantations will produce low value sawn timber. However, for plantations close to urban or highly populated mining areas, most of the unutilised wood could be converted to charcoal or sold as firewood.
Wildfire damage to both natural forests and plantations particularly in the drier northern and central districts is likely to increase due to the expanse of savannah lands.
Past Tree Planting Efforts
Since the inception of the national tree planting drive in 1985, tree establishment outside forest estates, either in towns or on small plots, continue to increase, albeit slowly. Some trees established in or around settlements had been destroyed by wild fires, vandalism, grazing pressure etc. However these trees or woodlots comprising mostly of Acacia mangium, A. auriculiformis, Gmelina arborea etc. would contribute significantly to firewood needs particularly in the drier northern and north central districts.
Between 1985 and 1995 the UNDP/FAO Fuelwood Project and PLAN International supported farmers to establish 1,000 ha and 400 ha of mostly Acacia mangium and A. curiculiformis in the Western Area of the country.
Also, over the same period, the Rokel Leaf Tobacco Development Company supported contact farmers to establish a total of 800 ha in the northern province.
In addition, other agricultural projects with forestry components could have established another 400 ha nationwide. Some of these plantations would have been replaced at least once by year 2020.
Tourism and Biodervisity Development
By 2020, non wood forest products will be playing significant roles in terms of employment, tourism and rural development.
Rattan furniture production which started in the mid 90s would have grown to a reputable industry with costs slightly above that of timber furniture which only targets the local market, at least for now. In addition, raphia palm cane is widely used as furniture, doors, beds etc. in rural Sierra Leone. The sale of rattan household utensils along the highways to the East and South has become significant over the past decade and is likely to become lucrative, provided the producers get value for money rather than the middle man taking the lion’s share of the profits.
During the next 2 decades, these sources of material would significantly supplement timber and contribute to timber conservation provided the source of the rattan cane is conserved and ideal replenishment methods instituted.
Honey production for the market has started gaining grounds and holds much potential for the future.
A soft drink manufacturing company – the Freetown Cold Storage, had already put honey on its shelves by 1992. A honey production association has been formed and a few expatriates have manifested interest in commercial honey production. Beeswax production also hold lots of potential for rural development.
Potential tourist hotspots have been identified by the Natural Tourist Board which is also working closely with the Forestry sector to develop projects to enhance tourism and rural development.
Tourist attractions such as the Africana Tokeh village, St. Michaels Lodge, Lakka Beach Hotel etc. which thrived well before the escalation of hostilities are likely to have developed effectively by 2020.
Biodiversity conservation would be more effective in the 8 important bird areas (IBAs) established in 1996. (See annex 3.1). With the continuous support of the Global Environmental Facility- funded "African NGO-Government partnership for biodiversity conservation project", launched in April 99 to run till 2004, these IBAs would have been managed more effectively. The Outamba Kilimi National Park, (Sierra Leone’s First National Park) would have been fully supported with funds from the EU and other donors.
Other proposed national parks, strict nature reserves, game sanctuaries etc. would have been fully developed. Tiwai Island would have fully developed to benefit the communities in terms of gate takings, cooperative store, interpretation fees, tour guide fees etc.
Eco-tourism development will depend mostly on the extent of rehabilitation of the roads following the cessation of hostilities and the conservation of biodiversity.
Most forest industries, (logging and sawmilling companies) had been affected by political interference, nepotism, dominance of foreign investors and poor transparency and accountability.
Logging, sawmilling and furniture production industries with high number of indigenous shareholders are likely to be encouraged in the interest of sustainability. In the absence of an operational forest industry for the past 4 – 5 years, individual powersaw operators, which continue to increase in numbers, have been encouraged to float an indigenous company to ensure the effective realization of benefits by local forest-based communities and ensure reforestation. Sawn timber of standard dimensions, possibly plywood and even pulp production would be possible by 2020. Acacia and Gmelina plantations established now could provide pulpable materials.
Due to difficult working terrains in most of the forests and the relatively high cost of forest road construction in poorly drained areas, mobile sawmills are likely to dominate sawmilling operations. Industries using near-obsolete machinery will have to change to modern machinery in order to stay in profitable business. Export of high-value sawn timber could resume, following its termination in 1990. Pressure will continue to mount on the Forestry Sector for the resumption of round-wood export during the next 2 decades and the sector may allow some limited log export.
Many entrepreneurs would have ventured to import machinery before seeking professional advice. The training of sawmill technicians, saw doctors, saw operators etc will be a necessary pre-requisite to the success of sawmills in future.
Illegal exportation of sawn timber to Liberia and Guinea by boat will continue as long as ill-gotton timber, with minimal production cost, is available and particularly due to the high price differential between sawn timber prices of Sierra Leone and the neighbouring countries. However the sustainability of raw material supply is critical to the future success of the industry.
The rattan cane industry will thrive and possibly reduce the pressure on timber for furniture production.
The carving industry will open up at a rate probably in proportion to tourism development. Wood waste could be utilised for this purpose to the advantage of the sector.
Based on a projected population estimate of 8.9 million in year 2020 and on the basis of per capita consumption of sawn timber, construction poles, firewood and charcoal of 0.07 m3, 0.012 m3, 0.52 m3 and 0.11 m3 respectively. The wood supply and demand situation will probably reflect a deficit.
The total standing volume of timber in all types of forests is 6.6 million m3 (1990) and the annual increment of the various forest types will result in a yearly volume increase of 495,000 m3 for all exploitable forests over the 20-year period. The scale of deforestation is not known with any certainty particularly over the past 9 years. White wood supply to remote areas will be relatively easy, cheap and less time-consuming due to close proximity to raw materials. However, supply to urban areas will be difficult, expensive and time-consuming especially considering the poor state of our provincial routes.
Timber, Poles and Fuelwood Supply
Industrial roundwood will be mostly produced in the east and south of the country about 200 miles from the capital, Freetown. Construction poles mostly comprising of Anisophylea laurina are currently utilised in the construction of Internally Displaced Person’s and Refugee camps. The present stocks are not managed on any sustainable basis as the current rate of depletion by far exceeds the rate of replenishment.
Contracting construction pole (fence sticks) supply directly to local communities encourages the depletion of even the heavily depleted Western Area Peninsula forests which are managed purely for protection purposes and frustrates the efforts of the forestry personnel to discourage such a lucrative business. The NGOs mostly pay twice the normal market price for these poles. A replenishment programme will be ideal and NGOs in shelter construction should be ideally supportive.
Woodlots established by farming communities in the Western Area will supply the Freetown population but the extra large sizes of billets, making splitting and handling difficult, could make it less attractive than the small 30 – 40 mm diameter billets, obtained from forest regrowth. Charcoal production methods currently used encourage a lot of wastage. Proper charcoal production kilms will be introduced in order to make the production method energy-efficient.
Alternative Energy Sources
Peat deposits are found in the Ribbi chiefdom and probably in other areas. Peat is a potential source of energy and its contribution to biomass energy could be explored fully.
Coconut shell for fish smoking particularly in the fishing communities of Shenge where coconuts are also grown in abundance could provide alternative biomass energy source.
Energy generation from Sewage holds a lot of potential as exemplified by the Bomeh methane generation project of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
Tidal, wind and solar energy are grossly underutilised at the moment. However solar energy tapping through solar panels seems to be on the increase and is likely to be explored intensively in the next 2 decades.
Dependence on imported petroleum is risky because frequent price increases tend to force users of kerosene, electricity and gas stove users to resort to the use of firewood and or charcoal. Fuel price increases over the past decade average about 27% per year although the price of kerosene which is used by 95% of the population has remained constant for the last two price increases in year 2000. Also increases in fuel price in March 97, June 98 and 99 left kerosene at Le 2,000 (see annex 2.4).
In addition increases in the prices of cooking stoves themselves could force consumers to resort to either cheap mud stoves or even the zero cost 3-stones cooking method.The completion of the 305MW Bumbuna Hydro Electric Project by 2003 – 2004 could ensure the generation of relatively cheap electricity. This may reduce the number of consumers reverting to the use of biomass energy on price conditionalities alone.
Also, the 5MW Goma Hydro Electric Project provides cheap and reliable electricity to the Eastern and Southern Provincial headquarters of Kenema and Bo respectively. However, during the dries, when the water levels and power drop, heavy fuel oil is used to generate power; hence the partial (seasonal) dependence.
Generally, the dependence on imported petroleum products will continue to be heavy in the industrial sector.
At the moment, petroleum-powered-electricity generated accounts for only 27% of the total electric energy needs of the capital Freetown.
Plywood, particle board, hardboard etc. are currently imported into the country for building construction, maintenance etc.
In the absence of a functional and reputable timber company, the importation of these commodities will continue, unabated.
Apart from packaging wood, timber import is not a normal practice.
However, cheap packaging wood, provides construction material for the less well to do in society.
Match splint was imported up to 1994/95 when the company closed. The company may resume normal operations following the cessation of hostilities. Furniture importation by returning students, diplomats etc. continues but could be insignificant in terms of volume and cost.
Social and economic contribution of Forestry.
Sierra Leone has about 24 HEP sites capable of generating electricity. But of those, only the 5 MW Goma supplies hydro power to the provincial capitals of the East and South respectively
When completed, the 305 MW, H.E.P. will produce surplus energy for exportation to neighbouring countries with substantial foreign exchange earnings.
In addition, the Guma Valley Water Company and the Intrapex Water Company spend about Le 70 million and Le 10 million on staff and labour welfare per month respectively.
The now defunct Forest Industries Corporation; Panguma sawmills; Sierra Wood Ltd; and the Sierra Leone Timber and Plantation Company (SILETI), employed over 4,000 workers (skilled and unskilled) and constructed and maintained over 600 miles of road in rural settings in Eastern Sierra Leone during 80´s and 90´s.
About 80% of the population is rural based consuming 6.2 million m3 of firewood; 396,000 m3 wood equivalent of charcoal; 43,200 m3 of fence sticks and 252,000 m3 of timber for construction, cooking, heating etc per year.
The crucial role of forests in food security in Sierra Leone lies in the fact that most of the so-called hungry season foods are available and affordable mostly during the rains, when roads are impassable, thereby cutting off imported food supply from the urban centres.
In addition, rural children obtain most of their vitamin C supplies from the plum of Spond ias mombin, Anisophyllea laurina, Cola lateritia and Parinari excelsa. Also, a common source of protein during the dry season, is from the roasted seeds of Pentaclethra macrophylla and Bussea accidentalis.
In Western Sierra Leone, for instance, over 70 plants species have been identified for plant medicine and dyes in the Western Area peninsula forests alone.
The cabbage of the young palm tree, bush yams (Discorea) etc are important hungry season foods in rural Sierra Leone.
The forestry sector provides employment for joinery and carpentry shops; pole, and firewood sales, sale of snack foods, medicinal herbs, rattan cane furniture production and sale etc.
The construction of extraction roads, trunk roads and their maintenance "opens up" areas which were hitherto closed to development. Such rural roads enhance agricultural development; ensure the delivery of health services to remote communities and improve the economy of rural communities due to the influx of employees of logging and sawmilling companies.
In addition, forests and related industries employ at rural level substantially thereby curbing rural/urban migration.
Conservation and Biodiversity.
Most biodiversity hotspots in Sierra Leone are contained in the following protected areas: forest reserves; community forests, national parks; game sanctuaries and other proposed protection areas.
In addition, certain protected areas have been designated as important bird areas (IBAs) which protection and conservation is covered by the Global Environmental Facility-funded, "African-NGO partnership for sustainable biodiversity conservation project" (see annex 3.1). In addition, the 741 km2 Gola Forest complex had been managed under the support of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) since May 1990. The adjacent 12 Km2 Tiwai island which forms a buffer zone to Gola West had been supported by the New York Zoology Society; the City University of New York and the Miami University, since the early 80´s.
Forest biodiversty could be better conserved depending on the cooperation of the local forest-dependent communities; funding support for monitoring; community sensitisation; controlled harvesting and the much needed political will.
In addition, forest patches and sacred groves on communal lands, if protected in collaboration with the communities, could ensure biodiversity conservation. Secret society bushes which were well protected before the onset of the rebel war, could now host some substantial plant and animal biodiversity due to the reduced deforestation around abandoned settlements.
Protective Role of Forests
Sierra Leone’s 24 potential HEP sites currently benefit from forest cover but even these high altitude vegetations are threatened by shifting cultivation and wild fires. However, a management plan has been proposed for the 305 MW Bumbuna catchment while the 5MW output Goma HEP is currently being protected. In addition, the Sugar Loaf catchment of the Freetown Waterworks Forests Reserve, is fairly well protected and supplies water to the Guma, Babadori and Congo dams which supply Freetown, the nations capital. Most catchments are fully or part of forest estates. The Guma Valley Water Company proposed World Bank-funded "water yield enhancement project" should include forest protection and regeneration efforts if the water yield should cope with the expanding population. The cooperation of Guma management is crucial to the catchment protection aspect of the project.
The Catholic Relief Services sponsored project "Restoring the Lion Mountains" if sustained, could restore forest vegetation on the vulnerable hilltops overhanging Freetown. Similar interactions should be replicated along the Wara Wara mountains of Kabala and the Wusum Hills of Makeni, (both in the North); Moyamba Hills (Moyamba Forest Reserve) in the south; the Kambui Hills in the East etc.
Plantation establishment and tree planting
Carbon sequestration could be significant from plantation forests which may be better managed than natural forests which are currently seriously threatened by powersaw operations; agricultural expansion; mining etc. Tree planting by communities in particular and the retention of forest vegetation at critical sites could decelerate land degradation and slow down desertification. In the absence of substantial interventions and effective collaboration, the forest cover, in the next two decades will be by far less than the present cover, resulting in an accelerated soil degradation.
Structure and Function of Forestry Division
Forestry Division comprises of Forest Conservation, Wildlife Conservation and Rubber Development Branch (now privatised). Functional Units comprise of Forest Research, Tree Diseases, Training –all fully functional up to 1985 but now virtually defunct due to poor funding and the lack of staff.
Regional Forest Officers (RFOs) implement government forest policy at regional level. They are assisted by ARFO, Foresters, Supervisors, Rangers, Forest Guards and Work Service Employees.
The mandate of the Division entails the provision of forests products and services thereto for present and future generations in perpetuity.
This is achieved through forest reservation, forest protection, seedling production, tree planting and maintenance, regulation of harvests, public education and sensitisation on deforestation, reforestation, energy and soil conservation etc. The Wildlife Conservation Branch is grossly understaffed and the present core of staff need basic training in Forest and Wildlife Management to be effective.
New Roles for the Private Sector and Local Communities
The private sector should be seen to be more functional in the following areas:
Investment in non-wood forest products such as rattan and bamboo furniture and household utensils production, honey production, rubber establishment and processing etc.
Communities to be involved in the management of forests outside government controlled forest estates; communities to take up seedling production and tree planting contracts after successful training programmes. They should fully participate in fire prevention and fire fighting (fire management) wildlife conservation, management of wetlands etc.
Production of transmission poles from the overgrown 70 ha Bradford pine plantation. This holds immense investment potential for rural electrification.
Carving industry to be developed to support the tourist industry utilizing logging and sawmill waste.
Revamp the forest production and utilization unit to facilitate revenue generation and the utilization of forest blocks not readily accepted by concessionaires.
New Arrangements in Forest Education and Research
Certificate Training in Agriculture (CTC) curriculum to be developed to support the tourist industry development as well.
Environmental Science courses tenable at the Njala University College to put more emphasis on theoretical forestry in addition to the attachment programmes over the past 2 academic years.
Sensitisation and public education programmes to continue over TV/Radio, particularly on provincial radios.
Cine-vans to be introduced at regional levels since their impacts are relatively easier to evaluate than the radio sensitisation programmes.
Socio-economic research into the full participation of communities in forest protection and plantation establishment will be essential.
Research into the sustainable use of lesser-known timber tree species for national and rural development should be conducted. This could increase the number of species to be utilised thereby increasing the value of the forests.
The utilization of white wood should be encouraged as far as possible to save the nearly over-depleted red wood stock which is currently overdepleted.
