Number-two, located along the Peninsula is one of the places in Sierra Leone surrounded by mountains with thick bushes, but it is gradually becoming a hub for climate change as people are enormously cutting trees to build houses and other domestic purposes.
This act has not only been a threat to climate change but has disclosed the negligence on the part of the Government of Sierra Leone to enforce stringent laws to discourage the massive deforestation. Moreover, Sierra Leone has been rated as the third countries in the world that is facing serious climate change issues. Recently, the Metrological Agency has revealed that, this year 2024, the country will face serious environmental issues such as climate change in weather condition. The cutting of trees has made the country to experience direct heat from the sun. The loss of trees and other vegetation can also cause climate change, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and host of other problems.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the National Disaster Management Agency, Lieutenants General (Rtd) Brima Sesay, revealed that flooding is the common disaster in Sierra Leone. He further discouraged people from engaging in activities that will pose serious environmental hazards in the country. Sadly, deforestation leads to soil erosion and flooding: trees help the land to retain water and topsoil, which provides the rich nutrients to sustain additional forest life.
Without forest, the soil erodes and wash away. It could be recalled that the Director General of the Guma Valley Water Company, Ing Maada S. Kpenge said in a weekly press briefing hosted by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education that, it’s because of deforestation that Guma have not been able to properly supply water to the Capital City of Freetown.
He further highlighted land grabbers that are encroaching into their land pose serious challenged towards the water catchment areas. These assertions of these DGs imply that deforestation is the leading cause for climate change and disasters in Sierra Leone. In fact, there is no iota of doubt that it is because of the deforestation that the sea rising happened at Number-two beach therefore, measure need to be put in place in order to save our beloved country from climate change. Parliament together with Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Environment, Environmental Protection Agency and the National Disaster Management Agency must work hand in gloves to stop deforestation.
If only Sierra Leone can learn from Gabon in the fight against deforestation, the country would be safe and free form climate change.
