SIERRA LEONE

Sierra Leone has over 2.7 million ha of forest, representing 38.5% of the land area. Since 1990, 9.5% of the country's forests has been lost and there is very little rainforest remaining. Deforestation is the result of a rapidly growing population putting pressure on resources through over-harvesting of timber, the expansion of cattle grazing and slash-and-burn agriculture. Despite the richness of the countrys mineral, agricultural and fishery resources, decades of neglect by the government, followed by a brutal civil war, which ended in 2002, have exacerbated the situation and the majority of Sierra Leone's people live in extreme poverty.

The current government, which was elected in 2007, is attempting to crack down on unsustainable and illegal logging. A timber export ban was imposed in January 2008 in response to claims that foreign companies and loggers (mostly from China, and neighbouring Guinea and Ivory Coast) were plundering Sierra Leone's forests, causing severe degradation. However, an initial lack of clarity over responsibility for forest management led to sporadic enforcement of the ban and accusations of corruption.

The ban was lifted in June 2008 and strict new rules were announced to tackle illegal logging. These include monitoring of felling by forest rangers, new transportation permits and identification codes on timber. A reward scheme was also set up for informers with information on illegal logging practices.

Sierra Leone is a signatory to the Accra Declaration which resulted from a FAO/ITTO workshop held in Accra, Ghana in July 2008, which explored the problems and possible solutions to the illegal extraction of forest resources in tropical West Africa.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
20/10/2008	Cross-border flows of timber and wood products in West Africa Recognizing that regional and cross-border timber trade may have important implications for the FLEGT ...	European Commission
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01/02/2008	Forest Products Trade between China and Africa: An Analysis of Imports and Exports Recent media coverage of China's efforts to secure access to natural resources in Africa suggests ...	Forest Trends (Kerstin Canby, James Hewitt, Luke Bailey, Eugenia Katsigris, Sun Xiufang)
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01/04/2004	Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa: Study on Forest Administration and Related Institutional Arrangements This study is a component of a wider initiative jointly undertaken by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture ...	Owino, Prof. F (Forest Resources International, Kenya) & Ndinga, Dr A (Dakar Fann, Senegal)
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
05/06/2013	Sierra Leone: Illicit Mining & Logging Destroying National Park Illegal Mining and logging activities in and around the Outamba Kilimi National Park in the Tambaka chiefdom ...	Awareness Times
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08/02/2013	Director implicated over illegal logging in Sierra Leone Latest reports reaching this press intimate that the Director of Forest and Reservation, Mr. Sheku Mansaray ...	Sierra Express Media, Sierra Leone
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23/10/2012	Government opens floodgates to deforestation The Government of Sierra Leone is considered to have given the green light to timber exporters to continue ...	Sierra Express Media, Sierra Leone
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05/04/2012	Sierra Leone: Al Jazeera hands 'Timbergate' evidence to ACC Doha-based Al Jazeera cable news has confirmed it has handed over "a large amount of evidence" ...	allAfrica.com
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07/03/2012	FDA, EU to develop framework for forest operation The Forestry Development Authority (FDA), European Union (EU) and other stakeholders are strategizing ...	Daily Observer, Liberia
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14/12/2011	18 Members of US Congress call for investigation of Sierra Leone logging scandal Washington, DC — Eighteen members of the U.S. Congress today wrote U.S. Secretary of State Hillary ...	Sierra Express Media, Sierra Leone
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13/12/2011	S.Leone's "Timbergate" threatens president poll bid Freetown - A corruption scandal in Sierra Leone could damage President Ernest Bai Koroma's chances ...	Reuters
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01/12/2011	Sierra Leone: U.S. Embassy slams media over VP Sumana's Al-Jazeera saga Freetown — United States Embassy in Freetown has slammed the media in Sierra Leone for circulating ...	allAfrica.com
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29/11/2011	Sierra Leone denies film's corruption claims The Sierra Leone government held crisis meetings last week after undercover film-makers claimed to have ...	The Independent, UK
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28/11/2011	ACC to investigate VP timber saga A documentary broadcast on Al-Jazeera television at 22; 30 GMT on Wednesday, 23rd November 2011 in its ...	Awoko, Sierra Leone
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26/11/2011	Sierra Leone: Timber! A story of corruption that is stripping the west African country bare Illegal logging is laying waste to Sierra Leone’s endangered forests. Despite years of laws and ...	Al Jazeera
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23/11/2011	Office of Sierra Leone’s vice-president caught in illegal timber business Journalists working for Al Jazeera English have uncovered corruption in the office of Sierra Leone’s ...	VibeGhana.com
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24/05/2011	Sierra Leone chimps threatened by disappearing forest Freetown — Deforestation is threatening Sierra Leone's wild chimpanzee population, west Africa's ...	AFP
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11/02/2011	S.Leone anti-graft agency stops illegal timber exports Freetown — Sierra Leone's anti-graft agency said Thursday it had intercepted more containers ...	AFP
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29/09/2010	In Sierra Leone, war declared on illegal Loggers in Bo The manner in which illegal logging is taking place in the country at large and in the Bo District in ...	Awareness Times, Sierra Leone
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08/07/2010	SLeone lifts ban on timber exports: government Freetown - The Sierra Leone government announced on Wednesday it had lifted a ban on unprocessed timber ...	AFP
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17/03/2010	“We are against exporting unprocessed timber” - Deputy Finance Minister Deputy Finance and Economic Development Minister, Momodu Kargbo has said in Parliament that Government ...	Awoko Newspaper, Sierra Leone
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08/03/2010	Government lifts timber ban After 1st January announcement by the President imposing a ban on timber exploitation, a careful review ...	Sierra Express Media, Sierra Leone
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11/01/2010	Sierra Leone: Ban on lucrative logging industry The Sierra Leone forestry guard has warned of impending environmental hazards following the indiscriminate ...	Afrik.com
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02/01/2010	Logging exports banned in Sierra Leone Freetown - The government in Sierra Leone announced Friday an immediate ban on the transport and export ...	AFP
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30/04/2009	Deforestation threaten Sierra Leone The environment in Sierra Leone is seriously threatened by extraction, deforestation and land degradation ...	Awoko, Sierra Leone
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24/04/2009	Sierra Leone: NP damns deforestation, says it's dangerous Concord - Sales manager of the National Petroleum Company, C.A. Aubee has said that deforestation is ...	allAfrica.com
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18/06/2008	Fish and timber in West Africa need more sustainable EU policies say MEPs Fish and timber are natural resources often not managed in a sustainable way in West Africa due to inadequate ...	European Parliament (EU)
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13/06/2008	Sierra Leone imposes logging rules after lifting timber ban: minister Freetown, Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone on Thursday announced strict new rules to curb logging misuses, ...	AFP
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24/04/2008	Sierra Leone: Police Enforce Govt Ban On Logging Sierra Leone - Police in Kenema have stepped forward to crackdown on illegal logging, as the government ...	AllAfrica.com
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28/03/2008	Sierra Leone: Chinese May Evade Govt Ban On Logging Some 230 miles away from Freetown, Gangama, Taetima, and Mesima communities in the Bonthe district have ...	AllAfrica.com
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28/02/2008	Sierra Leone: On Government's Ban On Timber Logging And Exportation Timber logging in Sierra Leone is one of the major economic activities that were not properly monitored ...	AllAfrica.com
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29/01/2008	Sierra Leone: Power Struggle and Illegal Logging Threaten Remaining Forests (Global Witness Press Release) Whilst illegal loggers are threatening Sierra Leone's few remaining ...	Global Witness (UK)
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15/01/2008	S.Leone Bans Timber Sales After Chinese Wreak Havoc Sierra Leone's government has banned the exportation of timber after "indiscriminate destruction" ...	Planet Ark (Australia)
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15/01/2008	Sierra Leone bans timber exports Sierra Leone has re-imposed a timber export ban because of what it says is indiscriminate plundering ...	BBC (UK)
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12/10/2007	New Agriculture Minister to clamp down on timber Smuggling in Sierra Leone A registered timber company in Sierra Leone, S.H International Company Ltd has raised concerns over the ...	Awareness Times (Sierra Leone)
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02/10/2006	The scramble for Africa What is the future for resource-rich post-conflict African nations? ...	The Statesman (Ghana)
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22/01/2006	Goodbye to West Africa's rainforests West Africa's once verdant and extensive rainforests are now a historical footnote. Gone to build ...	Mongabay.com
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Tuesday 15th July 2008	FAO/ITTO Regional Workshop on Improving Forest Law Compliance and Governance in Tropical West Africa Over the past two years, FAO and ITTO have assisted countries in the Amazon region, Central Africa, Central ...
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