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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
66June 2015
I
N Sierra Leone an amusing
assortment of greetings has
evolved to replace ‘pressing of the
flesh’ that could give rise to Ebola
contagion. From elbow jabs to
clasped-hand bows, a gallows humour
has derived.
The reality of Ebola is hidden from
visitors: the main reminder the hand-
held, infra-red thermometers that assail
passers-by at checkpoints that have
been set up at regular intervals along
most highways. Statements such as
“Ebola Stops With Me” are also embla-
zoned along roadsides, and posters
showing symptoms are widely
dispersed.
After an estimated , cases, the
steady flow has reduced to a trickle and
the country is ready to move on. But
stoical Sierra Leoneans are accustomed
to other epidemics such as AIDS and
ubiquitous malaria, and endured a
frightening decade-long civil war (-
) that witnessed limb-severing
among other horrific punishments.
Inhabiting temperate north-west
Europe it is hard to grasp the challenge
of this region’s climate. Throughout the
year daytimes are stiflingly hot, rarely
dipping below degrees while during
the wet season the force and duration of
rain is such that at times one marvels at
how much moisture the clouds contain.
The territory of Sierra Leone, like the
rest of Africa, was framed by European
colonisers without regard to its tribal
constituents. But well before the
‘Scramble for Africa’ those societies had
been destabilised by the arrival of Euro-
pean weapons and extensive raiding for
the horrific trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone,
like Monrovia in neighbouring Liberia,
was established by the British as a
colony for freed slaves and the national
Also in this section:
World War 1 and the Middle-East 70
Portuguese parallels 72
UN is not Coca-Cola 76
INTERNATIONAL
Sierra
Leone
after
Ebola
Greater threats wait in the wings. By Frank Armstrong
June 2015 67
lingua franca Kreo comes from those
first settlers. Sierra Leone became a
British protectorate in .
Today the human indicators in Sierra
Leone are among the worst in Africa. Up
to % of the population’s growth has
been stunted due to poor nutrition in
the womb and infancy. Rates of literacy
are low. Above all it is poverty that
makes the task of containing Ebola
difficult.
Throughout the country electricity is
intermittent and internet available only
to a privileged few, albeit many of the
poorest seem to carry mobile phones.
There are some decent roads but heavy
rains make light work of others. The
undulating surfaces are ruinous to vehi-
cles; any driver must be a mechanic.
Commerce is everywhere in Sierra
Leone, at any road stop a line of individ-
uals, mostly women and children, greet
vehicles usually with luscious fruits and
vegetables. In Freetown and other cities
market stalls and small shops line every
artery. Money changes hands con-
stantly, transactions are negotiated at
every turn. As the state provides little or
nothing, individuals must carve out
niches to survive.
Donor countries and NGOs, including
Ireland Aid, are assisting development.
It is said that the Chinese are building a
new airport outside Freetown and a
road through the north of the country to
Liberia. Some of this aid may be driven
by commercial interest, but its contin-
ued flow is crucial to raising human
wellbeing.
But, unfortunately, environmental
considerations rarely register in the
face of human intransigence. In time
this may prove a grave mistake as Sierra
Leone is reckoned to be the third most
vulnerable country in the world to cli-
mate change.
Only a tiny proportion of Sierra Leo-
ne’s once abundant forests – part of the
wider Upper Guinea belt – survives.
Local wisdom has it that a meal is not
complete without rice, which originated
in Asia but whose impact is apparent
here in the expanses of charred tree
stumps everywhere. This slash and burn
agriculture requires a twenty-year
fallow period. Indeed a shift in dietary
preferences towards other carbohy-
drate staples such as native cassava,
plantains and yams that do not exert
such a toll would be of great benefit, and
would improve nutrition. The country’s
future food security might depend on
this as more land is degraded by demo-
graphic pressures. At least the presence
of pests such as the tsetse fly deters
large-scale ranching, though the goat,
the main domesticated ruminant in
Sierra Leone, often adversely affects
recovering forests.
The multinational timber trade is also
a leading cause of deforestation. Moreo-
ver, scaffolding for building works
mainly comes in the form of bamboo
derived from vulnerable forests. A
simple measure would at least require
development agencies to import steel
scaffolding for their construction
projects.
Then there is mining, including of
fabled ‘Blood Diamonds’, competition
for whose extraction was an underlying
cause of the Sierra Leonean civil war.
Both rebels and government troops col-
laborated in their extraction and the
associated deforestation. Today as well
as artisanal operations, bigger players
including Western companies have
moved to extract iron-ore, bauxite and
diamonds.
The consequences of centuries of
exploitation are everywhere apparent.
With hillsides denuded of forest cover,
top soil turns to suffocating dust in the
dry season which is drained away when
the rains arrive. The sea around Free-
town acquires a brownish hue that
stretches for miles. Millennia of accu-
mulated humus cannot easily be
regained.
The economic value of biodiversity, or
But,
unfortunately,
environmental
considerations
rarely register
in the face
of human
intransigence
“
beach erosion
mining
deforestation
68June 2015
INTERNATIONAL Sierra Leone
natural capital, is increasingly recognised,
especially as manifest in clean water, food and
climate. But only more slowly are we recognis-
ing its value as a good in and of itself.
Unfortunately most Sierra Leoneans are too
impoverished to be able to see beyond imme-
diate material considerations but there is a
growing appreciation of nature in a region
which exhibits extraordinary diversity.
A trip to Tiawa island, along the River Moa,
brought to mind Joseph Conrad’s description
of a similar profusion of life along another
African river: “Going up that river was like
travelling back to the earliest beginnings of
the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth
and the big trees were kings. An empty
stream, a great silence, an impenetrable
forest”.
Maintaining the integrity of the biodiversity
on the island depends on a delicate balancing
that has required extensive consultation with
local villages. An EU project has brought solar
power to many nearby. In turn, village elders
deter their tribesmen from hunting for the
array of primates that populate the site. So-
called bush meat is not highly prized by the
local communities but poverty and ignorance
impels some to seek it out.
Stopping hunting is not merely a sentimen-
tal concern. Diseases such as Ebola and Aids
are zoonotic; that is they spread from one spe-
cies to another, usually through the
consumption of flesh. A species of fruit bat has
Tommy Garnett
Tommy Garnett is a dual citizen of Ireland
and Sierra Leone. He founded the
Environmental Foundation for Africa (EFA) in
1997 at the end of the rst Sierra Leonean
civil war while living in Liberia. His
organisation currently employs twenty staff
all of whom are Sierra Leonean. He lives and
works in Freetown.
FA What is your background and why did you
found the Environmental Foundation for
Africa?
TG I was born in the Kono district in the
eastern province of Sierra Leone in the late
1950s at a time when most of the country’s
forests were intact. I remember that our
house was on the edge of the forest, so I had
a forest backyard at the age of 5 or 6, but by
the time I was eighteen and going to
university that forest was no longer there. In
its place were developments, degraded bush
and diamond-mining pits that stretched as
far as the eye could see. But that memory of
the forest of my childhood stuck with me.
When the war started in Sierra Leone in
1991 I was living with my family of three
young children in London and we started
seeing pictures of devastation: the suffering
of people and destroyed landscapes. I also
knew that mining had been happening for
the best part of five decades and it seemed
there was no one talking about what would
be done to repair this damage. The focus
was exclusively on alleviating human
suffering. That is why I decided to start an
organisation that would focus on the repair
of degraded landscapes, protection of
forests and education of people about
managing both.
FA Why is environmental protection urgent
in west Africa?
TG Much of western Africa lies within what
used to be called the Upper Guinea forest
belt, which once stretched south through
Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire,
Ghana and Western Togo. Over the last
century this has been reduced to less than
ten percent of its original cover. Given the
inextricable link between forests and the
traditions of the people of this region, many
cultures and livelihoods are disappearing.
FA What are the main projects you are
running?
TG We have launched a biodiversity and
renewable-energy learning centre which is
intended as a repository of knowledge and
experience of over twenty years working in
the field. We hope to use this centre as a
place for exhibiting representative samples
from the eco-systems of our country and
wider region, and to create enabling
conditions for people to have a heart
connection with nature and the forest.
Currently the relationship with the forest is
narrowly utilitarian. We want people to fall
in love with nature! Then its protection is
assured.
We also maintain a wildlife sanctuary on
Tiwai island where we promote eco-tourism,
motivating local communities around the
site by delivering alternative livelihoods and
raising awareness of the global significance
of its biodiversity. We are also offering
renewable energy by installing solar panels
to local villages. These projects help people
understand that they matter and that there
is great value in protecting forests.
We are also involved in supporting
research, working with Njala university to
find answers to some of the burning
questions that help people recognise why
they should manage natural resources. For
example, we are conducting a joint study
with Environmental Resource Management
Foundation (a part of the ERM consulting
group) to establish a link between Ebola and
natural resource management.
FA: What organisations support your work?
TG: We are supported by the European
Union which is funding a solar energy
project in 50 communities. Critical Eco-
system Partnership Fund based in the US
has also provided support over the years.
We also work with the JJ Charitable Trust, an
arm of the Sainsbury Charitable Trust.
FA: Has Irish Aid been supportive?
TG: We have not had any relationship with
Irish Aid in recent times though they
supported me initially as, for the first ten
years out here, I was an Irish volunteer
working for APSO. I used to receive a
volunteer’s allowance which allowed me to
support my young family while I did my
work. They also provided bridging support
for Tiwai island when we first completed
construction of the facilities in 2006: the
only means of maintaining the facility.
June 2015 69
been isolated as the reservoir host for Ebola
while diseased monkey were responsible for
AIDS. Curbing the consumption of bush meat
is an important component in ending further
zoonotic outbreaks.
The challenges involved with instigating
projects are considerable here. Even purchas-
ing property is tricky as the state’s registry
may issue more than one deed for the same
land. Corruption and nepotism are endemic.
This gives rise to a certain despondency as
even the highly educated and energetic find
advancement difficult. Career frustrations
make the option of leaving the country
appealing.
Almost anything is available at the right
price. Dramatic luxury co-exists with wither-
ing poverty. On the roads, the latest US car
models mingle with men dragging large
wheelbarrows and women with heavy loads on
their heads. With both actual and comparative
poverty, it is hardly surprising that
individuals should aspire to great wealth
should circumstances permit. Inculcating a
common interest between people is a serious
challenge, and an understanding of the limita-
tions of their natural environment is crucial.
Hope lies with the increased literacy of chil-
dren, improved education and access to
information. A gap in the onslaught of disease
and conflict can spur the next generation to
re-build the country based on principles of
fairness and sustainability. •
Tommy Garnett
FA: Do you have other means of fund-
raising?
TG: At the moment the only means available
for us is to draw income from the usage of
the learning centre, but as a result of the
Ebola crisis it is not easy to raise money. It
is not a good climate for doing meaningful
environmental work. It is very expensive to
do business for a local organisation that
wants to deliver the highest standards
possible. The cost of utilities is very high. In
order to have the desired impact, we have to
focus on environmental management -
meaning we constantly have to find ways of
fund-raising, and that includes generating
resources from our facilities.
FA: What are the principal challenges for
environmental protection in Sierra Leone?
TG: We have a rapidly growing population of
which more than 65% are under the age of
35. Very high levels of unemployment: over
70% of the rural population are dependent
on the land which brings a lot of
environmental degradation. The economy is
driven by the extractive sector, mining
particularly; and lately we are seeing the
establishments of large plantations of palm
oil, squeezing other activities. There isn’t a
proactive approach by the international
development partners towards
environmental protection. Everything that
occurs is in response to obligations. Usually
we respond to crises when it comes to
addressing environmental challenges. It is
sometimes daunting to know where to start:
for example waste management is terrible
meaning many of the beaches are littered;
then there is the degradation of the hillsides
due to soil erosion; upcountry we still have
a lot of slash-and-burn agriculture with no
clear plan of action on how to replace or
remedy the destruction to nature. The
measures taken so far are comparatively
minor: the combined efforts are far smaller
than the problems.
FA: Does the Sierra Leonean government
support your work?
TG: Yes, they have been very supportive.
Apart from the fact that they support all the
organisations through concessions, the
government recognises that we are
contributing to the national development
plan. But given the financial and human-
resource constraints even the best
intentions are insufficient to have lasting
impact when it comes to implementing
environmental projects which require long
time scales. But NGOs and their partners
want immediate results. Changing a culture
is a slow process, and very few entities
allocate enough time and resources.
FA: What additional measures should
foreign NGOs take when delivering aid to
take care of the environment?
TG: The first thing they should do is
recognise that we all contribute to the
problem. Investing in development aid in
the agri-sector means that more forests are
cleared to grow rice. Building more latrines
involves using materials from the bush.
Investing in roads and bridges requires
cutting down huge swathes of forest. Every
agency has contributed to the problem. The
second task is to integrate environmental
considerations into the planning and
implementation of every project. This means
close collaboration with both governmental
and civil society organisations. Bigger NGOs
with greater resources should develop
capacities within their institutions so that it
isn’t always an external agency that cleans
up adverse environmental impacts. Failure
to recognise the ecological basis of all
investments is like building on sand. What
has just happened with Ebola is a classic
example. When it struck it wasn’t long
before all the systems collapsed. Yet we
know that this zoonotic disease came about
in part because of the fragmentation and
irresponsible use of forest eco-systems. We
were very quickly left to the mercy of the
international community.
FA: Shouldn’t we always prioritise aid to
people as opposed to the environment?
TG: If you see people as different from the
environment then maybe. But if you see the
people as being part of the environment
then you see it’s a necessity. It’s a false
economy to support people at the expense
of the environment. That is where the whole
world is going wrong.
FA: Are you hopeful that environmental
conditions will improve in Sierra Leone?
TG: I have to be, otherwise I might as well
retire and go travelling, adding more CO2 to
the atmosphere! I am an eternal optimist. I
see the innocence of the children and ask
myself what they will be doing in twenty
years. When I was their age I had so many
dreams and aspirations. Since then much of
the forest has disappeared. Peace and quiet
is hard to come by, the beaches are dirty
most of the time. All of the things that make
nature beautiful are under threat. It is all
important that we work with the younger
generation who will inherit what we have
now. There is no other option if we are to
avoid future catastrophes. •
