Conservation and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone

The report examines the intersection of biodiversity conservation and peacebuilding in post-conflict Sierra Leone. It details the current network of protected areas, which covers only 4% of the land and none of the marine territory, and identifies significant threats including demographic pressure, industrial mining, and agricultural expansion. The authors argue that while conservation can foster peace by creating jobs and promoting transparent resource governance, poorly managed efforts—such as those involving disputed boundaries or inequitable benefit-sharing—can exacerbate local tensions. The report concludes with recommendations to strengthen legislative frameworks, improve stakeholder coordination, and involve local communities in decision-making.

• Sierra Leone has a very low level of conservation protection, with only 4 per cent of its land area protected and no marine territory under protection, which is below both the global average of 6.2 per cent and the sub-Saharan African average of 5.9 per cent.
• The civil war (1991–2002) severely damaged conservation efforts through direct actions, such as rebel groups establishing camps in protected forests and attacking park facilities, and indirect impacts, including the collapse of environmental management institutions and widespread illegal artisanal mining.
• Industrial and artisanal mining pose significant threats to protected areas; mineral concessions cover 82 per cent of the country, and there have been attempts to de-gazette parks for mining, as well as disputes over boundaries, such as the conflict between the government and Cluff Gold over the Kangari Hills reserve.
• Demographic pressures and food insecurity are driving encroachment into protected areas, with urban sprawl affecting approximately 20 per cent of the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve and farmers settling inside Outamba Kilimi National Park.
• Conservation can support peacebuilding by creating employment, reducing corruption through transparent resource governance, and implementing benefit-sharing agreements, such as the Gola Forest Programme which has disbursed over US$500,000 in development benefits since 2005.
• Poorly managed conservation can trigger conflict by limiting community access to resources, introducing economic burdens like crop destruction by wildlife without compensation, and creating disputes over obscured or contested park boundaries.
• Institutional capacity for conservation is critically low, characterized by a small staff count (less than 25 in the Conservation and Wildlife branch), limited operating budgets, and overlapping jurisdictions between government ministries and traditional authorities.

APA

Brown, O., & Crawford, A. (2012). Conservation and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd_conservation_in_Sierra_Leone.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Oli, and Alec Crawford. Conservation and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2012. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd_conservation_in_Sierra_Leone.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Oli |last2=Crawford |first2=Alec |title=Conservation and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=January 2012 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd_conservation_in_Sierra_Leone.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2012conservation, author = {Brown, Oli and Crawford, Alec}, title = {{Conservation and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2012}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/iisd_conservation_in_Sierra_Leone.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }