Freetown, April 14- The Mano River Ecosystem Conservation and International Water Resources Management project has held a national review and validation of the Regional Synthesis report of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analyses (TDA) in Bo.
The event brought together the Minister and top officials of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Deputy Minister and top officials of the Ministry of Environment, officials from the Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Mines, The Environment Protection Agency, National Minerals Agency, Traditional leaders, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector.
Speaking on behalf of his Ministry, the Hon Deputy Minister of Environment, Mr. Cyril S. Jusu said the TDA is an important process, and it is their desire as a Ministry to commit to its successful execution. He said that as a nation we cannot sit by and see the environment that sustains our livelihood is at risk, due to human activities that keeps destroying the environment. He mentioned that the Ministry of Environment has committed to plant five million trees within five years across the country, especially around water catchment areas, and this would help to protect water sources.
“Climate change is real, resulting in global warming. We have many government MDAs working on environment-related programmes, but the problem continues to escalate….due to the severity of human activities that is destroying our environment, the President has put together an inter-ministerial committee to address these challenges. We have to do more and do better.” He concluded by saying the Ministry of Environment will always collaborate with the Ministry of Water Resources and other MDAS in the protection and conservation of the country’s river basins.
In his Keynote speech, the Hon. Minister of Water Resources, Ing. Philip K. Lansana said Sierra Leone is at the downstream of these rivers, and that any negative activity upstream by neighbouring countries affects Sierra Leone terribly; hence a transboundary cooperation is critically important to us and the countries upstream, in order to reduce transboundary pollution, protect water-related ecosystems, and ensure a prosperous future for all across these transboundary basins.
“Therefore, we must build on our long established and successful relationship with our neighbouring countries, particularly on issues around the environment, sustainable development, and water governance. On behalf of the President and the people of Sierra Leone, the Mano River Union (MRU) for effectively coordinating activities amongst member countries; the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) for their unflinching technical and financial support,” the Minister said
This TDA was carried out to diagnose the state of the physical, political, socio-economic and scientific environments at transboundary basins of the Moa-Makona, Great and Little Scarcies rivers, and to identify and identify threats to the basin ecosystems, the socio-economic and environmental conditions that depend on these basins. This report will explore opportunities and threat around our transboundary waters, and how we can properly manage relationship around our international waters. The Mano River Ecosystems Conservation and International Water Resources Management Project is funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and implemented by National Protected Areas Authority (NPAA) and National Water Resources Management Agency (NWRMA) as the two National Executing Agencies. The project consists of two components: component 1 is about integrated management of forest ecosystems; while component 2 is about sustainable management of transboundary waters.
By Sallieu S. Kanu