I'm currently working for the development charity Article 25, who are working with local and international NGOs and local people in Sierra Leone to help save the Gola Rainforest and create new opportunities to develop sustainably. I've been spending the week promoting their project and trying to raise support on a free online poll to vote for funding for the project.

A decade of civil war (1992-2002) left Sierra Leone in poverty, with nearly half of its population living on less than $1.25 per day. This national disaster led to dependency on unsustainable agriculture and primary exports, creating a cycle of poverty and destruction of the rainforest. Mutual development of livelihoods that use resources sustainably and conservation are needed to bring Sierra Leoneans out of poverty and make the country a stable and strong provider for its people.

Article 25 is working with local people to provide sustainable infrastructure for the Gola Forest National Park and in the villages surrounding it. The purpose of this park is to achieve environmental sustainability and reduce poverty by creating new livelihoods. People in Sierra Leone are very keen to leave poverty behind and create a new face of Sierra Leone that will attract visitors and help them to develop eco tourism as a way of combating poverty. Local people in the village of Lalehun have even donated land so that a headquarters for the park can be built. 

Article 25 are working hard to contribute to the conservation of the park by providing infrastructure for the park that is of a world-class standard and will encourage visitors. They will be working with the local community to involve them in the project and create benefits for local people. 

This project will provide homes, clean water and facilities for 300 people in Lalehun in its first year. It will also help to secure the future of the Gola Forest Programme to establish the park’s mutual goals of conservation and livelihood development that will provide new opportunities to the 100,000 people living around Gola Forest. 

Kids from Lalehun show Article 25 their Park Ranger's Truck.


During a feasibility visit to the park children from the village of Lalehun made a surprise visit to the Article 25 team, they had made a model park ranger’s truck to show the team. They were excited about the Park and wanted to show what they were going to do when they grew up. Everyone the team met in Lalehun wanted to help develop the park to improve lives in their country and to prove that Sierra Leone is recovering from its conflicted past into a bright future. 

Article 25 are hoping to complete the infrastructure for the park over the next year, and their project worker Catriona Forbes is currently nominated for Vodafone World of Difference funding, please click here http://ow.ly/2es3e and vote for Catriona Forbes. If successful she will be able to go out to Sierra Leone and ensure that this project is successful. After the first year of this project Article 25 is planning to run training schemes in other villages around the Gola Forest to provide safe, sustainable housing, clean water and other essential buildings.

blog comments powered by Disqus