Welcome to the Gola Forest

Welcome to the website of the Gola Forest Programme. We hope that it will give you an interesting, useful and inspiring insight into the efforts of my Ministry and our partners to protect our countries last forest frontier – the Gola Forest.

For the past 20 years, my Ministry has collaborated with the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to protect the Gola Forest and support the development of the local communities around the forest. This website is a testament to the great efforts that we have together invested in these 20 years.

The environmental conservation sector in Sierra Leone is facing an exciting yet challenging time. As our country progresses we are faced with greater pressure on our natural environment and limited capacity to control such pressure. Yet, at the same time we are on the cusp of realising a dream of a protected areas network in Sierra Leone.

The Gola Forest has even more importance in this light; it is our first large scale protected area project and is therefore being closely watched as a flagship conservation project in our country and indeed Africa.

This website will introduce you to Gola, tell you why it is important and inform you about what we are doing to protect it. My parting words are to say that it is our government’s priority to re-brand Sierra Leone, our tourism industry can play a huge part in this – therefore I urge you to find the time to visit this natural wonder - our Green Diamond.

Hon. Dr Sam Sesay, Minsiter of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security