EU funds to save one of W. Africa’s last remaining forests

€5.5M of EC funding was sealed 15 May to save the Gola Forest, one of West Africa’s last remaining rain forests.

The ‘Trans-boundary Peace Park Project’ was jointly launched by President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, and the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The foundation of the new Gola Forest project management office was also laid during the signing ceremony in Lelehun, Southern Sierra Leone.

The project ‘Across the River: A Trans-boundary Peace Park for Sierra Leone and Liberia’ complements another project: ‘The Gola Forest: A new, practical model for achieving sustainable protected areas in post-conflict Sierra Leone, a Least Developed Country’, also financed by the EC. Both are aimed at preserving the last remnants of the vast Upper Guinean Rainforest, which once covered large pasts of coastal West Africa between Togo and Sierra Leone. These rainforests are classified as a biodiversity hotspot, whilst also providing a sustainable livelihood conditions for the local population. Civil society organisations of EU Member States were involved in drawing up both projects.

The future Trans-boundary Peace Park unites the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone (75,000 ha) and the Lofa and Foya Forest Reserves in Liberia (80,000 ha and 100,000 ha respectively). EU officials say the Gola Forest provides for important ecological services for the entire West African region: Climatic conditions favourable for agricultural production (e.g. cocoa/coffee), continuous provision of water, protection against soil erosion, mitigation of climate change, provision of wood and non-wood forest products to the local population.

"I am convinced that this kind of joint actions will help to foster peace, stability and reconciliation in a region that witnessed long and brutal civil wars. Therefore I warmly welcome the intentions of the Presidents of Liberia and Sierra Leone to work together to fight against climate change and to promote peace in the Mano River region. The joint project will secure the long-term conservation of the rain forest, its biodiversity and global carbon storage benefits and will contribute to improved cross-border forest governance between Sierra Leone and Liberia, “said Louis Michel, EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid.