The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Jiwoh Abdulia, has called for community ownership of the National Forestry Inventory exercise in the Eastern Region, scheduled for February and March 2026.
He made this call during a stakeholder engagement in Kenema on Thursday, 29th January 2026, with Paramount Chiefs, District Councils Chairmen, and other community stakeholders from Kenema, Kono, and Kailahun Districts.
Minister Abdulia stressed the importance of Paramount Chiefs and Community Leaders in the broader government’s vision for environmental protection and climate change. Hence, he said that they are always engaged and consulted before, during, and after the implementation of critical exercises, like the forest inventory.
He noted that the data from the National Forestry Inventory will help identify the different types of forests, their locations, and conditions, supporting policies for sustainable forest management.
The FAO representative, Harding Wuyango, noted that the Eastern Region exercise is the third phase of the national campaign, following data collection from the North-West and South regions.
He congratulated the Government of Sierra Leone, the European Union, and FAO for the progress so far in the implementation, which aims to provide data for evidence-based planning and policy development.
He reaffirmed the FAO’s commitment to sustainable management of the environment for effective food production, while thanking the EU for providing the resources for the project.
Presenting an overview of the project, the National Coordinator, Patrick Abu Mattia, stated that the Support to Sustainable Forestry in Sierra Leone, the National Forest Inventory, aims to promote the sustainable use of forest/tree resources to pave the way for increased access to climate finance, leading to community and the country’s economic development.
Mattia further stated that data will be collected on a total of 464 clusters from different land cover throughout the country, of which 110 are located around the three districts in the Eastern Region.
Paramount Chiefs present called for government support through funding and other logistics to empower them to protect their forest and environment.
They highlighted several challenges, from funding to legal issues, that they faced in developing bylaws to protect the environment.
They called for effective collaboration in sustainable forest management and climate-related issues and committed to supporting the NFI exercise in their respective chiefdoms.
© NFI Communications
