Tree Genocide: The Intergenerational Robbery Skipped by the Audit Service Sierra Leone Report

The recently published Audit Service Sierra Leone's account on the Accounts of Sierra Leone for the Financial year 2019 have received many criticisms and spurred many debates, all of which centered on the financial mismanagement and the disregard for procurement protocols/rules.

The biggest surprise (quoting Professor #JosephTuray) in the report, however, is the scale at which our trees are going down. The report states that data from the Customs Department registered a total of *2,202,024.88* (over two million) cubic meters of Timber (valued at USD$5.5 billion) export from Sierra Leone for just 2020. The number is huge. But I assure you the consequences could be egregiously costlier. In our watchful eyes we witness the planet's lungs being cut down. There is no serious crime and robbery than depriving the future generation of this great nation equal (or better) potential to realize their needs. This is intergenerational robbery. Come to think of how many of our trees would have gone by the end of the activity. How many would have gone before we are satisfied (before we raise enough to fill our pockets)!

Now the figures featured in the report only featured timber logging activities and not the several other tree cutting activities carried out daily. We have those going in for boards, wood/fuel, agriculture and farm clearing, cite clearing for construction, and coal burning in a continent that is characterized as 43% extreme desert. We are selling our future for small monies and risk promoting desertification. 

You ask the question where these timbers are going, they say China (Asia) and Europe. But then don't they have forests to cut? They do, but they are preserved and well guarded. They want their forests to flourish in order to serve their future generations. 

We have to move from raw material export to finish product export. No country has grown this way. If you need tangible and sustainable growth you should add value. Invest in infrastructure, education, entrepreneurship, science and innovation. We have been doing this for decades and no progress has been registered. 

What about Bumbuna Phase II? If this carries on, can't we be inviting drought and flooding? Does not this mean we are risking the fruition of the long anticipated Bumbuna Phase II project that's supposed to generate enough electricity to every part of the country and boost business and economic activities?! Are we for real!!

What about Biodiversity!? Are we not endangering the various species that those forests host? Do you think they would stay after hearing the power saw on their doorsteps? How many species are we driving away from those places? Have you thought about the consequences it will have on livelihood and the ecosystem? 

What about agriculture that employs over 50 percent of Sierra Leone workforce? When the rains stop coming, can we afford to go hungry and continue relying on China for staple food import? The big trees are the callers of rain. We soon shall start seeing animality in rain pattern (what we have witnessed so far could be just the beginning). 

But of all that, how has that reflected in the lives of Sierra Leoneans? The cutting down of trees has the potential to destabilize communities and promote future conflicts (conflicts over resources). Come to think of when we would have fewer rivers running through and fewer animals dwelling in our forests. Come to think of when certain regions become deserts and how that will define migration pattern and conflict over resources. 

We should know better as a nation.

What about a report on the progress on "tree replacement." If I am not mistaking, for every tree cut down, three more should be planted. Did the Audit Service Sierra Leone consider that in their report?

If the project is on going, which agency is charged with that? And how much in value are we talking about here. 

For all I know, Auditing service will never be truly complete without giving it other dimensions like Environmental and Social. Monetary figures cannot account for every damages incurred. We need to incorporate other measures. Environmental assessments should be featured in as well as social impact assessments. Don't tell me the Environment Protection Agency should undertake that. In order to mainstream the SDGs, we should feature them in the most prominent reports of the nation. Benchmarking is key. We should be akin to social and Environmental happenings lest we betray ourselves. 

Photo credit: Professor Alhaji U Njai

~Amadu Wurie Jalloh

~The Emmanuel Ivorgba Foundation

~Students Analysts and Writers Network