COMBINING COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP AND DIGITAL TOOLS, THE CITY OF FREETOWN’S INITIATIVE, FREETOWN THE TREETOWN, IS GALVANISING A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT FOR TREE PRESERVATION IN SIERRA LEONE’S CAPITAL.
Over the past half century, Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, has undergone rapid population growth, resulting in the loss of millions of trees due to urban development in the city.
With its population on track to reach more than two million by 2030, urban sprawl is encroaching on the forested, mountainous peninsula outside the city. Seventy percent of Freetown’s trees have been cut down, and the city is already experiencing negative effects from the loss of these critical ecosystems. In 2017, devastating floods and landslides swept through Freetown, tragically taking the lives of 1,000 people. Such disasters, along with coastal erosion, are becoming more common.
