Asset Impact Monitoring from Space (AIMS). Sierra Leone, Western Area Peninsula National Park: Extended Analysis – May 2024 to April 2025

Asset Impact Monitoring from Space (AIMS). Sierra Leone, Western Area Peninsula National Park: Extended Analysis – May 2024 to April 2025

Rome (Italy): World Food Programme (WFP), 2025.

English

25 p.

WFPELR3629

The Western Area Peninsula National Park (WAPNP) occupies approx. 18,000 ha of Sierra Leone’s Western region and lies south of the national capital, Freetown. Despite being vital to Freetown's environmental health, the Western Area Peninsula National Park (WAPNP) faces severe threats from human activities such as land grabbing, charcoal production, quarrying, and illicit crop cultivation. These activities are exacerbated by weak law enforcement and systemic corruption. Deforestation in the area significantly increases the risk of hillside and mountain destabilization, gully formation, soil erosion, and reduced water quality and supply. It also heightens the likelihood of landslides and flooding. As such, closely monitoring forest cover is critically important to inform and strengthen conservation efforts. The objective of the present report is to identify areas experiencing vegetation and/or forest cover loss within the Western Area Peninsular National Park between May 2024 and April 2025.

Funded by the European Union.

Public

ELR 3629

eng

131017