HomeWestern Area EnvironmentWard-Level Capital ImprovementsCivil Infrastructure PlansCity's AEC Growth PlansFAQsContact Us

Project Profile

The Western Area Peninsula National Park (WAP-NP), occupying the centre of the peninsula, covers about 17,000 hectares of closed forest. The beauty and natural significance of WAP-NP is still well preserved. Hosting a range of hills with a highest peak at 971 meters, the forest vegetation can be described as still 60% pristine and has a manifold wildlife bordering directly to the coastline, making WAP-NP truly unique in West Africa

 
   

Western Area National Park REDD+ Article 6 Project is inspired in part by a)  professional insights into the infrastructure challenges of the Freetown, 

Capital City of Sierra Leone, and all the contigous towns that are situated around  the Western area Peninsula National Park; and

b) by Mandy Rambharo's take on how African Country's can benefit from a more holsitic approach by Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and the Paris Climate Agreement's Article 6 combined. 

This call effectively sets the challenge to adopt a balanced REDD+ strategy with a goal of promoting and improving Sierra Leone's capacity around Payment Ecossytem Services (PES) 
 

with sustainable development of key infrastructure in the Western Areas Peninisula; (Water and Energy).  The Western Area Peninsula National Park was a Forest Reserve since 1916  and a Protected Area since 2012. It is 

 on the UN's World Heritage site Tentative list since 2013. 

 

The article "Can Article 6 Benefit African Countries" by Mandy Rambharos was carried on the Forest Trend and IETA Insights websites as part of their African Climate Week Edition.

The kattcoomba group, PES incubator, lays out a practical approach to incubate and implement this for the size of Freetown City and the towns and villages around the Western Area Peninsula National Park. 

The ultimate test of this project is to demonstrate the nexus among a) national and diaspora professional input a) institutional backing by World Bank Carbon parntership and C) the Markets of the PES.

 Currently in the Western Area Peninsula, the existing  water and power infrastructure is saddled with inefficiencies and insufficient quality of supply to support the populations growing  demands. 

If access to sustainable energy and water investment and sustainable development cooperation is possible through Payment Ecosystem Services, then Article 6 could play a pivotal role in this regard.

 

The challenge now is to go well beyond REDD+ linking of forest ( Terrestial) carbon markets only to mitigation and emissions reductions. Imagination is required to price

the estimated Carbon for the Western Peninsula National Park not just to drive reductions and have sustainable development as merely a co-benefit. The innovation will be to

 price carbon for sustainable development in the water and power Infrastructure not as an add-on benefit, but to drive development that is sustainable. This is the objective of

 Western Area National Park REDD+ Article 6 Project, Sierra Leone.

 

 Budget strategy

A% - Ward Contigous to Wapfor to support livelihood activities that do not encroach in the zone. Maintain forest buffer. Paying Mountain Rangers selected to be part of REDD+

 B%- GVWC to support Infrastructure of DMAs ona pre-set program with payback periods to be funded

C% Administration, Audit, Oversight and Communities

D% - Invested

E% - Local Research WAPFOR to support Program

D% - Tourism trails with historic and cultural Readings along the way.

F% -Annual School programs to produce teachin kits for use in teaching linkages between WAPFOR, sustainable living in Freetown for the protection of the forest.  

READ Articles:

Deforestation: constructing problems and solutions on Sierra Leone's Freetown Peninsula, Paul G. Munro1, Modelo University, Mexico

Political Economy of Forest Ecology in Sierra Leone: A Focus on the Western Area Peninsular Forest (WAPFoR) Emerson Abraham JACKSON1 

 
   

 

JOIN Freetown Learning Path Initiative, powered by Sakai, to learn from background work in this area, digitized information and participate with others to acheive this project's objectives. CLICK HERE TO JOIN