Environmental Education Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has lost 95 percent of its forest cover, since 1970. Deforestation is contributing to carbon emissions, degradation and loss of our rich biodiversity, natural habitats and entire ecosystems. Deforestation is leading to increasing seasonal droughts, hot weather and loss of fresh water supplies. Shifting rainfall patterns and torrential rains are causing flooding, erosion and humanitarian disasters. Forests are degrading to grasslands, farmlands are losing fertility and productivity.
Energy poverty is the main driver of deforestation because 94 percent of the households use firewood charcoal for cooking.
Rural youth and women farmers are the main agents of deforestation because they produce and sell the charcoal and firewood. They are also the most vulnerable to climate shocks because they entirely depend on rain fed agriculture and other natural resources for their livelihood. Assuming that one household burns an average tree (of about 10 years old), 94 percent of the one million households in Sierra Leone burn 940 thousand trees per day, and about 343 million trees per year.
Sierra Leone had experienced series of disasters due to climate change. The recent mudslide and flooding that left hundreds dead, and thousands displaced, is the direct impact of the manner in which we have been dealing with our natural habitat. Climate change has been a major topic of debate in the last couple of years in Freetown and Sierra Leone as a whole. This period has witnessed a significant collapse in environmental stewardship and natural resource management. Unfortunately, the majority of these discussions have seen students of schools and colleges being left out and not practically involved. There is an urgent need for thoughtful and careful stewardship of the land together with a more intensive use and management of its resources with active involvement and participation of youth. This project will encourage and demonstrate the essence of collective measures in the fight against climate change primarily by promoting technical skills in renewable energy design, installation and maintenance and environmental stewardship through behavioral change and actions that would result in environmental protection and climate change awareness and mitigation amongst teachers and students in Freetown.
Objectives
Increasing school Teachers and students awareness and knowledge on climate change and environmental issues; equipping students with technical skills which will enable them take responsible actions towards improving the environment and mitigating the impacts of climate change; Promoting environmentally-friendly lifestyles and consumption habits such that encourages actions that would help protect the environment; and
The project will involve teachers and students in 10 selected schools within Waterloo, Rural District of Freetown increasing their awareness of climate change and its impacts, promoting technical skills in renewable energy, environmentally-friendly lifestyles and consumption habits and widely disseminating critical information.
Outcomes and Benefits
- Building capacity and skills of students and teachers on renewable energy technological systems;
- Formation and empowering of school environmental clubs;
- Empowering students on tree planting, setting up a base for school action in the fight against climate change and act as a vehicle of information between students, teachers and their host communities.
Sierra Leone School Green Club (SLSGC) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) which prioritizes, education, agriculture, protecting our environment and climate change.
SLSGC has vowed to work for the promotion of forest preservation, wildlife protection, climate change, education and agriculture.
Mission: We seek to educate the public all in an effort to create awareness on environmental issues. We seek to lobby the political will for a stable climate that will benefit all mankind.
Sierra Leone School Green Club (SLSGC) is an indigenous Community Based Organization (CBO) which was established in 2015. The organization has been engaged in climate change sensitization and mitigation strategy across Sierra Leone. The organization began as the challenges of climate change hits local communities in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world and climate change is having a drastic impact on the livelihood of the already underprivileged communities. Sierra Leone School Green Club has been successful in achieving grassroots participation in Climate Change resilience strategies. It has also succeeded in influencing public opinion about climate change in communities. Our audience includes educational institutions, local government structures and non-governmental organizations and local communities that are directly or indirectly been affected by climate change. We hope to have a common agenda in the fight against climate change and make the world and our communities sustainable in the utilization of our natural resources in a sustainable way. For a copy of the full project proposal and budget, please contact Sacred Seedlings.
