Tree Planting for Climate Resilience in Freetown, Sierra Leone

The report evaluates the "Freetown the Treetown" initiative, which aims to plant millions of trees to combat deforestation and climate change in Freetown. Using Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi), it analyzes two scenarios for planting trees by 2050, projecting significant net discounted benefits between USD 21.68 million and USD 26.45 million. The primary benefits include avoided infrastructure damage from natural hazards, job creation, and reduced loss of life, with a societal return of over USD 2 for every USD 1 invested.

• Freetown faces severe environmental risks due to rapid urbanization and the loss of approximately 500,000 trees annually, which increases the city's vulnerability to extreme heat, coastal erosion, landslides, and floods.
• The "Freetown the Treetown" initiative's new phase focuses on restoring the Western Area Peninsula Forest, protecting water supplies, and restoring mangrove forests to mitigate natural hazards.
• The economic assessment compares two nature-based infrastructure (NBI) scenarios for tree planting by 2050: Scenario 1 (3.7 million trees) and Scenario 2 (5 million trees).
• By 2050, the total cumulative net discounted benefits (at a 4% discount rate) are projected at USD 21.68 million for Scenario 1 and USD 26.45 million for Scenario 2.
• The project offers a high societal return on investment, with discounted returns of USD 2.14 for Scenario 1 and USD 2.04 for Scenario 2 for every USD 1 invested. The most significant positive impacts are the prevention of loss of life and avoided infrastructure damage from sea level rise, coastal erosion, landslides, and floods.

APA

Kapetanakis,, R. B. C. G. (2025). Tree Planting for Climate Resilience in Freetown, Sierra Leone. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/tree-planting-freetown-sierra-leone

Chicago

Kapetanakis,, Ronja Bechauf,Edoardo Carlucci,Marco Guzzetti,Michail. Tree Planting for Climate Resilience in Freetown, Sierra Leone. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2025. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/tree-planting-freetown-sierra-leone.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kapetanakis, |first1=Ronja Bechauf,Edoardo Carlucci,Marco Guzzetti,Michail |title=Tree Planting for Climate Resilience in Freetown, Sierra Leone |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=9 January 2025 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/tree-planting-freetown-sierra-leone |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kapetanakis2025tree, author = {Kapetanakis,, Ronja Bechauf,Edoardo Carlucci,Marco Guzzetti,Michail}, title = {{Tree Planting for Climate Resilience in Freetown, Sierra Leone}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/tree-planting-freetown-sierra-leone}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }