WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR RICH WESTERN AREA FOREST OF SIERRA LEOENE?

Forests have been identified as one of the richest ecosystems in the World because of its high diversity of floral and fauna. The Western Area Forest which historically covers the hills of the Freetown Peninsula and is the westernmost area of closed-canopy forest was documented in Sierra Leone. It is separated by about 160km from the nearest area of closed canopy forest, at Bo.

In order to conserve the forest, soil and water, the first part of the Western Area Forest Reserve was designated in 1916. Subsequent additions between 1916 and 1973 brought the total area of protected land to 17482 ha. Since the Wildlife Conservation Act 1972, the area was designated a non-hunting forest reserve. However, as shown in the figure, the area is steadily shrinking due to increased pressures from human encroachment.

Independent investigation on the management and administration the Western Area Forest Reserve revealed that it is under the administration and responsibility of the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Forestry. Land in Western Area outside the Forest Reserve is privately owned, in contrast to the situation elsewhere in Sierra Leone where most areas outside reserves are under chiefdom control.
Vegetation

Conservationists describe the Western Area Forest as Guineo-Congolian rainforest of the hygrophilous coastal evergreen type. It had a closed canopy at about 30 m or more with emergent trees rising above this canopy. The drier rocky slopes and summits support low scrub forest. The areas inland of the Peninsula are a mixture of farm-bush and scattered grassland with small remnants of Lophira savannah. Neighboring coastal areas support mangroves. Tacugama Forest Reserve was covered with primary and/or mature forests in the past. However, most of this area is now covered with secondary forest and farm bush, as a result of the heavy deforestation by shifting cultivation, charcoal burning and lumber extraction for building. More than 100 different species of birds have been identified in and around the Tacugama Forest Reserve.

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary which was established in 1995 is located in the beautiful Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve, close to Freetown - the capital city; the sanctuary covers 100 acres of important rainforest and watershed. It was established as a home to rehabilitate confiscated, orphaned and abandoned chimps. Sierra Leone has signed many international environmental conventions including CITES which makes it illegal to hunt, capture, kill or keep chimpanzees.

The sanctuary now takes care of over 90 chimps that were confiscated from individuals. Though much work has been undertaken towards stopping the illegal trade of these endangered species, and supporting the protection and conservation of chimpanzees in the wild through education, communication, the implementation and legal enforcement of national laws governing the protection of biodiversity remain problematic.

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WHO WILL SAVE THE HILLSLOPES

Hill-slopes can have considerable development potential because of the views and attractive setting they provide. Historically, construction on hill-slopes had been conceived on short-term benefits with the rights of the individual prevailing. However, there are rising community expectations concerning the maintenance of visual values, natural habitat and biodiversity around urban and growth centres. Hill-slopes are often prone to hazards such as soil erosion and landslide as is evident from past incidences, resulting in loss of lives and property. Development in these areas can compound such hazards and render them highly visible and costly to deal with. There is, therefore, a need to better manage and control construction activities on hills to reduce environmental impacts and to reduce loss of lives and property. Future management decisions on hill-slope development should also be based on the principle of sustainable development because of the unique values associated with them, which makes them a natural resource in their own right. In this context, sustainable development means that resources should be used in ways that do not jeopardize future use of the resource. Strategic planning, which recognizes visual, conservation and recreational values, can provide clearer directions for future uses and management.

Environmental Impacts
The major adverse environmental impacts of hill-slope development are:
Slope erosion- Site clearing during earthworks result in the removal of vegetation and the creation of cleared surfaces, which become vulnerable to the erosive action of rain and surface runoff. Erosion on exposed slopes starts with rain splash leading to sheet, rill and gully erosion creating badlands if the site is left exposed for too long or abandoned altogether. Cuts and fills change the slope angle, often creating steeper slopes. The steeper the slope, the faster the surface runoff flows and the more force it will have to remove material down-slope.

Slope stability- Landforms are the product of the local balance between weathering, erosion and deposition and are continuously evolving. Natural slopes that have been stable for years may suddenly fail because of development activities on hills. Changes to the terrain and hydrology through construction or earthworks may cause erosion, which create conditions conducive to mass movement if exposed surfaces are not protected within a short period. Exposed rocks will be weathered at a faster rate and the weathered material is susceptible to movement especially when saturated with water. Over cutting of slope or over steepening of the slope gradient can induce instability. Slope cutting changes the slope topography and releases residual horizontal stresses and cause expansion of the slope. Joints or weak zones may be exposed along which sliding may occur. Placement of fill will also lead to increase in shear stresses acting on slopes and may lead to slope failure. Drainage patterns of an existing terrain may be altered as a result of construction. The change in groundwater flow patterns may cause changes detrimental to the stability of the newly constructed slopes of the existing in-situ slopes that were stable prior to construction.

Landscape impacts- The impact on landscape is the direct physical change to existing landscape features such as vegetation, topographical, geomorphological features and recreational facilities as well as buildings and structures. Visual impact is a change to the appearance of the landscape and the subsequent effect on the views of groups of people at particularly sensitive viewpoints. Visual impact can vary from overall improvement to degradation. Construction on hills will bring about a change in the landscape and will thus have a visual impact on landscape quality.

However, all is not doom and gloom, the solution to most of the environmental problems lie in our hands. If only every Sierra Leonean can opt to plant at least one tree on the hill-slopes, we will be sure of preventing major environmental problems. Finally, environmental problem anywhere is an environmental problem everywhere. Environmental problems do not obey physical geographic boundries.