Concord Times (Freetown)
Mohamed Massaquoi
10 June 2010
Freetown — Communities surrounding the Gola Forest reserve have commended the effort of government and other partners in transforming the jungle into a national park for ecotourism and other economic activities for the benefit of local communities.
It has been revealed that frantic efforts are being made to upgrade the standard of the forest to a national park which will attract both national and international attention.
Residents of Lalehun and its environs have considered that the long-term benefits of the conservation far outweigh the short-term benefits of extraction and destruction of the reserve.
A team from the European Union (EU) country office was in that part of the country to access the project as the EU has provided 3.2 million Euros for four years to sustain the project.
EU media officer, Gibril Foday-Musa said the forest was key to national development and that the communities surrounding the reserve stand to benefit from the trans-boundary peace park.
Town chief of Lalehun, Moinina Kallon commended the EU for funding the project as the community has benefited immensely from the Gola Forest programme.
"The programme is doing well for this community; they have constructed a mosque and improve on the road network. They have also given us livestock to forget about bush meat. This is not the only project they have embarked upon, there are other developmental programmes being undertaken in other chiefdoms covered by Gola," he said.
The Peace Park will provide the potential to raise tens of millions of dollars over the forthcoming decades, ensuring sustained funding for protected area management and community development.
President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, last year jointly launched the "Trans-boundary Peace Park Project" to save the last intact rainforest in the Upper Guinea Area. It is expected that the project would create unity between the two countries.
The Gola Forest is a new practical model for achieving sustainable protected areas in post-conflict Sierra Leone and community members were anticipating that it would be of greater benefit if the trans-boundary project could be sustained.
The forests provide very important ecological services locally, nationally and regionally, including wood and non-timber forest products, medicinal plants, continuous provision of water, protection against soil erosion, climatic conditions conducive for agricultural production.
Gola Forest protected area manager, John Moriba, said the forest comprises 74,800 hectares of primary and secondary rainforest habitat; a home for dozens of endangered and rare species.
He said increasing the status of the forest to a national park would save the biodiversity of both Sierra Leone and Liberia.
"This park would create opportunities for trade and employment facilities. We have already given money to communities surrounding the forest. We have embarked on series of activities because a wider ambition to generate livelihoods and promote a better understanding of sustainable forestry and agriculture to the local communities will offer an attainable route out of poverty and grant Gola residents a real opportunity for self-determination," he said.
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