About The Gola Forest Project

The Gola Forest Programme is an international partnership that aims to protect the beautiful Gola rainforests in perpetuity – forever. It is Sierra Leone’s most ambitious conservation programme ever.

The Programme first took seed in 1990, when the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) and the Forestry Department of the Government of Sierra Leone decided that the Gola Forest needed greater conservation attention. This was further boosted following a wildlife survey in 1989, sponsored by BirdLife International, that showed that the forest was still a stronghold for threatened plants and animals such as the Rufous fishing owl and others. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds then took interest and became an international partner and supporter of CSSL and the Forestry Department.

Since 1990 the RSPB, CSSL and the Government of Sierra Leone have collaborated in a robust partnership to protect the Gola Forest. Initial programmes in the 1990s were focussed on education, forest boundary marking and management planning. Since the return of peace to Sierra Leone in 2002 the ambition and scale of the Gola Forest Programme has grown greatly. The Gola Forest is now a proposed national park, and subject to a large programme funded by many international Donors, most notably the EU, FFEM, GCF and the Darwin Initiative.

The aim of the Gola Forest Programme is to protect the Gola Forest in perpetuity through effective management, sustained funding and ongoing benefits for local communities. A management plan for the Gola forest from 2007-12 was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security on 2008, which spells out the route to achieving this ambitious aim. The plan can be downloaded here.