Community Development in the Gola Forest Communities

It is a strong belief in the Gola Forest Programme that the Gola communities are integral and critical to the success of the programme. The Gola partners signed a vision statement in 2003 with communities that they will play a critical role in the programme. Since then a contractual agreement was signed in 2007 to put community development high on the project's agenda.

Project supported farmer proudly showing his rice crop

The Community Development and Outreach unit comprises Environmental Education, Community Development and Tourism teams. The goal of this department is to ensure that Gola communities benefit from and participate in the protection and management of the forest while reducing the negative impact on the forest. The department also aims to secure strong commitment from local communities and the people of Sierra Leone to support the long-term protection and conservation of the Gola Forest as a National Park.

Approach

At all stages, the Unit encourages active and effective participation of local communities in the management and protection of the Gola Forest. This is achieved by working closely with local community structures, particularly the traditional structures in the preservation of the Gola Forest. The Unit also liaises with relevant ministries, district councils and NGOs carrying out livelihood support and development activities to exchange ideas and experiences.

Jojoima community at bushmeat lecture - Alex Hipkiss/RSPB

Education

The Education team has developed a strategy for education at the Gola community and national levels. At the Gola communities level it has thus established Nature Clubs in 70 schools and is drafting a new nature club guidebook. The project, with the support of CSSL, has also developed a poster on the endangered animals of Gola for distribution in Gola.

A regular newsletter – the Gola Guardian has also been developed for distribution across Sierra Leone and sensitization done in the police, army, Eastern Polytechnic and communities on innovative approaches to conservation. The Gola Guardian is available from the Downloads section of this website.

Development

The project can contribute to development in the local communities, but cannot provide all of the answers. The project is striving to find ways to contribute in the most effective way that it can. The present system is that communities decide their own development priorities and hence the project funds these. However ensuring equitable solutions and sustainable solutions has been a challenge.

In the past 2 years there have been 10 community projects undertaken, 9 of which have been completed. The project also pays a royalty to the 1065 historical landowners of the Gola Forest –the first time this has happened. The local communities are also the future protected area staff. The project has sponsored 5 undergraduates and 286 secondary school pupils from the local communities in the past 3 years.

Tourism

Tourists in the Gola Forest Reserve

The government of Sierra Leone is putting much emphasis on developing the tourism industry. The project is therefore undertaking a study of tourism potential with a view as to how it could fit within national tourism activities. To this end the project has compiled list of motels and hotels. It has trained 20 community members as tour guides and has begun to develop a network of trails and campsites in the forest, linking them to community guesthouses to ensure maximum engagement and benefit for communities.