By Ibrahim Sesay
The Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone has concluded its three-day Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Conference, with stakeholders highlighting key environmental and public health concerns, including lead exposure, plastic pollution and threats to protected areas.
The conference ended on Thursday, March 26, at the Freetown City Council Auditorium, bringing together policymakers, experts and development partners.
On the final day, panel discussions focused on various topics including conservation planning, marine governance and pollution control.
A session on the Western Area Peninsular Project looked at conservation priorities in the Western Area Peninsula National Park, with participants stressing the need for data-driven planning to address growing environmental pressure.
Another panel discussed lessons from Sierra Leone’s Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) process, highlighting the need to strengthen systems for managing marine resources.
During another separate discussion on the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP), experts raised concerns about the dangers of lead poisoning.
Ibrahim Mansaray, Chemical Control Officer at the EPA, said lead contributes to about 1.6 million deaths globally each year. He added that an estimated 2.3 million children in Sierra Leone have high levels of lead in their blood.
He also revealed that tests on 27 paint samples collected in Freetown showed that 47 percent contained high levels of lead, including one imported paint with over 32,000 parts per million.
EPA Manager, Gibrilla Kamara said Government has a responsibility to strengthen regulations to protect citizens, especially women and children, while ensuring compliance with international standards.
Mohamed Bah of the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau noted that efforts are ongoing to align national regulations with ECOWAS standards, but pointed out challenges in laboratory capacity for paint testing.
Delivering her remarks, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Mimi Sobba-Stephens, called for stronger plastic laws to address pollution.
She said poor disposal of plastics continues to affect the environment and public health and emphasized that proper legislation would reduce single-use plastics, improve waste management and create jobs. She also highlighted collaboration between the National Waste Management Organisation and the Freetown City Council to improve waste systems.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Protected Area Authority, Sheikh Ahmed Tunis, warned that Freetown could face a serious water crisis within five years if the Western Area Peninsula is not protected.
He said the park is critical for protecting the Guma Dam, which supplies water to the city and plays a key role in biodiversity and climate resilience.
The conference ended with calls for stronger collaboration and practical actions to address Sierra Leone’s environmental challenges.
