| Sierra Leone | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Western Africa | ||||||||||||||||||
| National websites | Sierra Leone on the Web | ||||||||||||||||||
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
Telephone (202) 939-9261 |
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| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | Sierra Leone is currently experiencing civil unrest, which began 10 years ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | Efforts are currently focused on getting the bloody struggle in Sierra Leone resolved so that attention towards conservation might be paid. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Natural Resources | Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources, both petroleum and diamonds. It was once also rich in forests, but as rapid population growth began, more and more people turned to slash and burn agriculture to support themselves. This destruction of forest and grassland habitats for farms threatens Sierra Leone's biological resources as well. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | Sierra Leone is experiencing tremendous population pressure. With the expansion of cattle grazing, forests are being cleared for range land. Soil exhaustion is also a problem as the cleared forests do not easily support agricultural activites, espeically slash and burn agriculture. Forests are also being destroyed for the production of charcoal. Currently only 8% of Sierra Leone's original forests remain. Overfishing is also occuring as Sierra Leone attempts to feed its growing population. Civil war has only increased the rate of depletion of resources and international organizations worry about the future of Sierra Leone. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Land area | 71,740 Sq. km | The World Bank, Agriculture Resources Dept. | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 13625 | The World Bank, Agricultural Resources Dept. | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | Although not a signatory of RAMSAR, supposedly 100% of Sierra Leone's wetlands remain, but the fate of their "swamps" as development continues is unknown. | The World Bank, Agricultural Resources Dept. | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 120 Sq. km | The World Bank, Agricultural Resources Dept. | |||||||||||||||||
| Population: 4.6 million | Density: | 166/Sq.mi
or 64/Sq. km |
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| Area protected (ha) only areas at all IUCN levels: | Only 82 ha. | Fraction of land area protected (%): | 1.1% | ||||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | Sierra Leone has only 694 Sq km of protected forest. Less than 2% of Sierra Leone's land is set aside for conservation. | Information Center for the Environment | |||||||||||||||||
| Species Endemic to Region |
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World Bank | |||||||||||||||||
| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendices | CITES-listed Species Database | ||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to CITES | October 10, 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | (date) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | |||||||||||||||||||
| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | Annual Marine Catch is 48,046 tons. Fish and Seafood comprise 13% of the per capita food supply. | World Bank | |||||||||||||||||
| Forestry / deforestation | Currently it is estimated that only 8% of Sierra Leone's forests remain. | World Bank | |||||||||||||||||
| Ecotourism | none | ||||||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | Meets 80% of the reporting required by the traffic in endangered species treaty | World Bank | |||||||||||||||||
| Hunting | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | Mining of diamonds and petroleum. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | Slash burn agriculture contributing to air pollution | World Bank | |||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Development activities | Rapid population growth is forcing West African families to rely heavily upon forestry and fishing for support. The result has been disastrous environmentally. In the Ivory Coast 7 million acres remain of a 70 million acre forest, the results are even worse in Sierra Leone, which has only 8% of its forests left. | Worldwide Forest Biodiversity | |||||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | Unknown, travel advisories will not recommend Sierra Leone. United States and European Airlines will not fly into Sierra Leone airports. | Travel Advisories | |||||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | None currently | ||||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | 649 Sq km. of forest are currently protected, but their ultimate fate is uncertain. | World Bank | |||||||||||||||||
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | None currently | ||||||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by (Stacy E. Korn) as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA