By: Joseph G. Bangali– Senior Staff writer
In June this year, a team of 21 eco-guards was hired by Tacugama Sanctuary to embark on collecting 2000 tree seedlings (species native to Loma mountains National Park) that are specifically part of the chimpanzees’ diets and to prepare a tree nursery site in Koinadugu and Falaba Districts. The Tacugama team visited each of the 21 communities when they embarked on a 21-day trip with a mission of planning 45,000 trees in the degrading buffer zones around the National Park. This is more than half of the 70,000 trees the Sanctuary team plans to plant during the rains in 2022. A big thank you was extended to the two field officers Joseph Marah and Konkofa Marah for tirelessly supervising and encouraging all activities in the communities.
In collaboration with Sunday Foundation, the tree planting exercise was extended to the soon to be completed secondary school in Mansonia where seedlings were planted close to the school to demonstrate to the locals the need to return to Mother Nature what has been taken from it. This initiative according to the TCOP team they hope will serve as an example going forward into the future. The team was full of praise for the rapid progress being made in the construction of the much-needed secondary school.
KINDLY ATTACH PHOTO HERE SIR. HAVE TRIED BUT NOT WORKING
Jaibui Island in Pujehun District also plays host to one of Tacugama’s outreach projects. This is called the Jaibui Island Conservation Project, which aims to investigate people’s perceptions of and attitudes to primate populations and the potential for ecotourism with the issuance of a questionnaire survey. There are no permanent staff but two hired eco-guards who ensure that human illegal activities such as hunting and cutting of trees is kept at a minimum and to also make reports on which wildlife spends time on the island. During July, however, we were lucky to welcome back Bockarie Kanneh, a hopeful member of
the TCOP team. He has been temporarily away from Tacugama to study for his MSc at the
African Climate and Environment Centre (AFAS) in Ivory Coast. The research station was restored and prepared back in April to accommodate researchers and this was the reason Bockarie Kanneh chose to return to Sierra Leone to carry out his MSc project research. Bockarie aims to focus his research on assessing the population sizes of three species of threatened primate found on the island. These are Western chimpanzee (pan troglodytes verus), Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana) and King Colobus (Colobus polokymos).
This month the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem was celebrated. Every year this unique day is celebrated on the 26 July, with the goal of raising awareness of the importance of mangrove ecosystems as “a unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem”.
Our TCOP team is also working towards the protection of mangrove ecosystems in Sierra Leone,
by engaging and teaching local Women Oyster Harvesters the benefits of these trees and how
they can be protected. Now, instead of cutting the roots off mangroves to remove and harvest
oysters, the women in the Sorbengi Community cut the oysters without removing the roots. We
are proud to see that the women are taking on board our teachings and that we are making a
difference towards this ecosystem in Salone.
In addition, we encouraged the women to engage in a mangrove restoration project whereby
the women planted mangrove seedlings in an area depleted of trees to bring back the mangrove trees and consequently all the wildlife forms that live within and alongside them.
TCOP’s next trip to Sorbengi will be after the rainy season in Sierra Leone, during which the
team will conduct market and eco-tourism research in advance of possibility setting up an eco-
tourism vernture in Sorbengi. Watch this space to see how this project progresses.