By Sallieu S. Kanu
The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE on October 19, 2024, visited teams of women and youth in Ojuku community where 80,740 mangroves have been planted over the past 12 days.
The initiative is part of the ‘FreetownTheTreeTown’ programme.
The eco-friendly mayor who was accompanied by Hon. Rosie Kanu and Cllr Sheku Deen Mansaray, participated in the tree planting exercise.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr had a vision to transform Sierra Leone’s capital into a sustainable place for future generations. Now, the German Africa Foundation has honored her commitment with the 2024 Africa Prize.
“I have huge respect and admiration for our community-based teams who are planting mangroves as part of #FreetownTheTreeTown! Accompanied by Hon Rosie Kanu and Cllr Sheku Deen Mansaray, I joined the teams of women and youth in Ojuku community today who have planted 80,740 mangroves over the past 12 days. It is difficult work wading into the swamps when the tide recedes in order to plant the seedlings and then tying the seedlings to a piece of wood to prevent them from being washed away. Before planting, each mangrove seedling is tagged with a unique identification code so that it can uploaded and tracked through the #FreetownTheTreeTown digital platform,” Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said.
“It is such a joy to see the youth and women of Ojuku and other coastal communities embrace this opportunity to work on #FreetownTheTreeTown as daily workers, growers, trackers and monitors!”
Funded by the World Bank and implemented in collaboration with NACSA under the PSSNYE program, this specific FreetownTheTreeTown activity involves the planting and tracking of 275,000 mangroves across 3 communities and the creation of 1,750 jobs.
The provision of jobs for women and youth coupled with the restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity, protection from flooding and provision of breeding grounds for fish are key benefits of this intervention.
“As we continue with our plans to re-green Freetown and to restore the mangroves along our coastline, we continue to appeal to Freetonians to protect our trees. Stop coastal banking,” she said.