The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Ministry of Finance, has launched the Nature Nourishes – Territorial Approach to Local Development Project, a €9.5 million initiative funded by the European Union to combat deforestation, restore ecosystems and promote sustainable livelihoods across Sierra Leone’s protected areas.
The project will focus on restoring forests and water catchments, promoting alternative sources of income, improving land use planning and training community guards to protect biodiversity. Efforts will target major protected areas, including the Western Area Peninsula National Park, Outamba Kilimi National Park, Gola Rainforest National Park and the Loma Mountains National Park.
At the launch event, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jiwoh Abdulai revealed troubling new deforestation figures for the period May 2024 to April 2025: 713 hectares lost in the Western Area Peninsula National Park, 2,152 hectares each in Outamba Kilimi and Gola Rainforest National Parks and 840 hectares in Loma Mountains National Park. He identified logging, construction encroachment, mining and charcoal burning as the main culprits, warning that those activities threaten Sierra Leone’s water security and heighten the risk of disasters.
The Minister urged residents, especially those in the Western Area, to protect water catchment areas and refrain from building in ecologically sensitive zones such as near the Tacugama Sanctuary.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the August 14, 2017, Freetown landslide, WFP Country Director, Yvonne Forsen, warned that deforestation has accelerated since that tragedy. She stressed the urgent need for coordinated action to prevent future landslides, floods and long-term environmental crises such as water shortages and rising temperatures. Yvonne Forsen explained that the Nature Nourishes Project will directly link environmental protection with tangible community benefits through reforestation, sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism and stronger local governance.
The launch also showcased local success stories. Paramount Chief and Member of Parliament Hon. Mima Kajue shared how her chiefdom replaced charcoal burning with swamp rice cultivation and established 100 hectares of cashew plantations, creating green jobs for young people while protecting local forests.
From the donor perspective, Holger Rommen, Team Lead for Infrastructure and Rural Development at the European Union, said the EU is proud to support the initiative as part of its broader climate action strategy. He stressed that the EU’s €9.5 million investment is aimed at helping communities living near forests and wetlands protect those critical ecosystems while improving their livelihoods.
Holger Rommen described the deforestation rates as alarming, noting that forest loss undermines biodiversity, food production, water availability and community resilience. He emphasized that EU support is designed to empower local people to lead conservation efforts, adopt sustainable land management practices and build viable green economic opportunities, ensuring environmental protection yields benefits for both current and future generations.
The Nature Nourishes Project is expected to run in key biodiversity hotspots, aiming not only to restore degraded landscapes but also to create a model for community-driven conservation and development in Sierra Leone.
