Search

The Forestry Act provides for a Reforestation Fund to finance reforestation and encourage reforestation initiatives. The Fund fee is assessed at the rate of 10% on the value of exports, and is collected on timber, non-timber forest products, and related transport cost. Funds are redistributed to districts for their reforestation activities. Holders of utilization concessions are required to pay an annual rent fee of US$12 per ha of forest.

Some restrictions on the transportation and export of fuel-wood and charcoal have been in place since 1990. Transportation of 100 kg or more of wood, and 50 kg or more of charcoal, is subject to a permit. The purpose of these restrictions is to limit the pressure on forest resources, due to the high reliance on bio-mass energy. The permit fee is to be paid to revenue collectors at checkpoints alongside the main roads. The fee varies between Le 1,000 and 2,000 per unit of timber depending on the size, and amounts to Le 500 per bag of charcoal.

In August 2007 the Government issued a ban on the felling, processing, and export of timber. The goal of the ban is to curb the over-utilization of forest resources and the loss of revenue caused by the expansion of illegal forest activities. The ban was lifted in 2008 and reinstated in 2011. The Government also adopted a set of guidelines in 2010 covering a wide range of forestry issues leasing of classified forest; issuance of logging permits; stumpage fees; including transportation of forest products; export permits; importation of chain saws and sawmills.

Sierra Leone is a party to several conventions and treaties on conservation and environmental management, including: the Convention on the Conservation of Biodiversity; the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; the International Convention to Combat Desertification; the World Heritage Convention; and the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Challenges for the sector include illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), which is estimated to cause annual revenue loss of US$30 million. In a move to curb this practice, the authorities closed their international shipping registry to foreign-owned vessels in 2010. As from that date, international vessels are no longer allowed to register with Sierra Leone flag.

The 2010 Policy Framework for the Fisheries of Sierra Leone , for the long term development of the sector, aims to turn fisheries into an ecologically sustainable and economically efficient sector. (...)

Sierra Leone is also participating in the World Bank-funded West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme (WARFP). Through this programme, the Government had secured US$8 million of funding for the construction of a fisheries harbour with the infrastructure to accommodate up to 20 vessels at a time. The complex would comprise a fisheries quay, a transhipment quay, a reefer quay, and a port administration building. The project also includes components aiming at: improving governance in the sector (data collection, stock assessment); curbing illegal fishing by reinforcing patrolling and inspection; and value addition.

A draft Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill is at the final drafting stage. The authorities indicated that the bill has provisions for a quota-management system for fishing activities.

Biomass is the main source of energy in Sierra Leone. It is estimated to account for over 80% of the energy used each year. Petroleum products account for 13% of energy consumption, and grid-generated electricity for the rest. Biomass energy is almost exclusively used by households (Table 4.1), while petroleum products are mainly used in transportation, and to some extent, by households and operators with private generator capacity. Less than 10% of the population has access to grid-generated electricity.

Table 4.1 Structure of energy consumption, 2011
(%)
Sector Fuel wood Charcoal Petroleum products Thermal and hydro Total
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing 1.0 0.0 5.0 2.0 2.0
Mining 0.0 0.0 9.0 1.0 2.5
Industrial/commercial 3.0 10.0 12.0 60.0 21.0
Transportation 0.0 0.0 49.0 0.0 62.5
Households 96.0 90.0 25.0 37.0 12.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0