User:Bugsandslugs/Sierra Leone
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To my peer reviewers:
[edit]An article on Environmental Politics in Sierra Leone does not exist yet. The progress I have made is in the bolded text. I have yet to conclude many of my ideas.
Biodiversity
[edit]Sierra Leone is home to four terrestrial ecoregions: Guinean montane forests, Western Guinean lowland forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, and Guinean mangroves.[1]
Human activities claimed to be responsible or contributing to land degradation in Sierra Leone include unsustainable agricultural land use, poor soil and water management practices, deforestation, removal of natural vegetation, fuelwood consumption and to a lesser extent overgrazing and urbanization.[2]
Deforestation, both for commercial timber and to make room for agriculture, is a major concern and represents an enormous loss of natural economic wealth for the country.[2] Mining and slash and burn for land conversion – such as cattle grazing – dramatically diminished forested land in Sierra Leone since the 1980s. It is listed among countries of concern for emissions, as having Low Forest Cover with High Rates of Deforestation (LFHD).[3] There are concerns that heavy logging continues in the Tama-Tonkoli Forest Reserve in the north. Loggers have extended their operations to Nimini, Kono District, Eastern Province; Jui, Western Rural District, Western Area; Loma Mountains National Park, Koinadougu, Northern Province; and with plans to start operations in the Kambui Forest reserve in the Kenema District, Eastern Province.[3] The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 2.76/10, ranking it 154th globally out of 172 countries.[4] More trees were cut after the war in order for Leoneans to rebuild. However, this has led to a significant decline in natural resources.[5]
Habitat degradation for the African wild dog, Lycaon pictus, has increased, such that this canid is deemed to have been extirpated in Sierra Leone.[6]
Until 2002, Sierra Leone lacked a forest management system because of the civil war that caused tens of thousands of deaths. Deforestation rates have increased by 7.3% since the end of the civil war.[7] On paper, 55 protected areas covered 4.5% of Sierra Leone as of 2003. This has led to a decline in the nation's abundant natural wealth. The country has 2,090 known species of higher plants, 147 mammals, 626 birds, 67 reptiles, 35 amphibians, and 99 fish species.[7] Unrestricted hunting during the war led to the decrease of many animal populations, including elephants, lions, and buffalo. Many of these animals can now only be found in sanctuaries. The tsetse fly is now dominant in the region and has led to an increase in the spread of the disease sleeping sickness. Still, Sierra Leone's bird populations have been largely the same and includes native birds such as cuckoos, owls, and vultures. The Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary and the Gola Forest Reserves are just two examples of the humanitarian efforts to preserve wildlife after the civil war.[8]
Droughts shock in the area have led to severe malnourishment and lower birth weights in newborns. Leading to sickliness in the children as they grow.
The Environmental Justice Foundation has documented how the number of illegal fishing vessels in Sierra Leone's waters has multiplied in recent years. The amount of illegal fishing has significantly depleted fish stocks, depriving local fishing communities of an important resource for survival. The situation is particularly serious as fishing provides the only source of income for many communities in a country still recovering from over a decade of civil war.[9]
Environmental Progress
[edit]Despite numerous setbacks, Sierra Leone has steady made progress in reversing climate change.[10]
In June 2005, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Bird Life International agreed to support a conservation-sustainable development project in the Gola Forest in southeastern Sierra Leone,[11] an imp
ortant surviving fragment of rainforest in Sierra Leone.
In 2015 the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. [12]Its goal is to end world hunger and poverty. It also strives to limit carbon emissions and reverse climate change.[13] This adaptation has been locally encouraged through commodity farming associations.[14] USAID (United States Agency for International Development) also is assisting countries in the climate crisis. [15]
Sierra Leone has taken action to provide new legislation for climate change since 2019.[16] A $74 million International Development Association (IDA) grant (as well as investments) was given to support Sierra Leone combat climate change.[17]
Advanced technology has been developed to detect upcoming landslides. A research study was completed by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. They concluded the Small BAseline Subset Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar SBAS-InSAR has been proven to be the most accurate method of predicting landslides in the region. [18]
References
[edit]- ^ Dinerstein, Eric; et al. (2017). "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm". BioScience. 67 (6): 534–545. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix014. ISSN 0006-3568. PMC 5451287. PMID 28608869.
- ^ a b UNCCD (2004). "National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): Sierra Leone" (PDF). p. 39. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ a b Angelsen, Arild; et al. (2009). "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD): An Options Assessment Report" (PDF). Meridian Institute for the Government of Norway. pp. 75–77. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ Grantham, H. S.; et al. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5978G. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
- ^ Burgess, Robin; Miguel, Edward; Stanton, Charlotte (2015-09-01). "War and deforestation in Sierra Leone". Environmental Research Letters. 10 (9): 095014. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/9/095014. ISSN 1748-9326.
- ^ Hogan, C. Michael (2009). Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus Archived 9 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. GlobalTwitcher.com.
- ^ a b Butler, Rhett (2005). Sierra Leone: Environmental Profile, mongabay.com
- ^ "Freetown | Sierra Leone, History, Map, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
- ^ "Sierra Leone". Environmental Justice Foundation. 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008.
- ^ "Sierra Leone - Climate Change". Foreign Law Guide. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
- ^ BBC News, Sierra Leone sets up forest park, 10 December 2007
- ^ Zakari, Abdulrasheed; Khan, Irfan; Tan, Duojiao; Alvarado, Rafael; Dagar, Vishal (2022-01-15). "Energy efficiency and sustainable development goals (SDGs)". Energy. 239: 122365. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2021.122365. ISSN 0360-5442.
- ^ Russell-Bennett, Rebekah; Rosenbaum, Mark Scott; Fisk, Raymond P.; Raciti, Maria M. (2023-01-01). "SDG editorial: improving life on planet earth – a call to action for service research to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs)". Journal of Services Marketing. 38 (2): 145–152. doi:10.1108/JSM-11-2023-0425. ISSN 0887-6045.
- ^ Russell-Bennett, Rebekah; Rosenbaum, Mark Scott; Fisk, Raymond P.; Raciti, Maria M. (2024-01-18). "SDG editorial: improving life on planet earth – a call to action for service research to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs)". Journal of Services Marketing. 38 (2): 145–152. doi:10.1108/JSM-11-2023-0425. ISSN 0887-6045.
- ^ Sarraf, Mohammad; Allahwala, Usaid K.; Nagaraja, Vinayak (2024-08). "Optimal Percutaneous Treatment of Ostial Left Anterior Descending Artery—Crossing is the Route to Perfection!". Heart, Lung and Circulation. 33 (8): 1077–1079. doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2024.07.004. ISSN 1443-9506.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); no-break space character in|title=at position 41 (help) - ^ "Sierra Leone - Climate Change". Foreign Law Guide. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
- ^ Barrie, Mohamed Samba (2024-06-19). "Modelling the Effect of Macroeconomic Rigidities on Market Competition in Sierra Leone". Economic Insights – Trends and Challenges. 2024 (3): 9–29. doi:10.51865/eitc.2024.03.02. ISSN 2284-8576.
- ^ Kursah, Matthew Biniyam; Wang, Yong; Bayoh, Henry David; Tarawally, Musa (2021-05). "A comparative study on the predictive ability of archived and SBAS-InSAR inventories for landslide susceptibility using frequency ratio model in Western Area, Sierra Leone". Environmental Earth Sciences. 80 (10). doi:10.1007/s12665-021-09663-x. ISSN 1866-6280.
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