KEYNOTE ADDRESS DELIVERED BY
HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT,
ALHAJI DR AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH
AT THE LAUNCHING CEREMONY OF THE
NATIONAL CAPACITY SELF-ASSESSMENT
(NCSA) NEEDS PROJECT AND THE VALIDATION
WORKSHOP FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE
COUNTRY REPORT ON THE UNITED NATIONS
CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION/
LAND DEGRADATION (UNCCD)
AT THE MIATTA CONFERENCE HALL,
YOUYI BUILDING, BROOKFIELDS
ON NOVEMBER 11, 2004

Mr Chairman
Cabinet Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament
Representative from UNDP
Country Representative from the EU
Your Excellencies
Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps
Heads of Government Departments and Local
Governments

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here at the launching ceremony of the National Capacity Self-Assessment Needs Project for the implementation of the Rio Conventions by Sierra Leone and the Validation Workshop for the preparation of the Third Country Report on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification/Land Degradation. The project and the report preparation is a clear indication of my Government's commitment to achieve sustainable development in Sierra Leone.

We are assembled here to start a very important decision making process in developing a proposal to strengthen our institutional capacities to implement three important Conventions, which are to be used to Combat Poverty according to the Millennium Development Goals, sanctioned by African Leaders in Maputo, Mozambique. Two years ago these Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) were accepted as the Environment Programme areas for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Initiative. Fortunately, Sierra Leone is a Party to the Rio Conventions namely:

v The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)

v The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

v The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The successful implementation of the three Multilateral Environmental Agreements require enhanced capacity for institutions involved in Natural Resources Management. Consequently, it is on this basis that my government requested the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to assist us in the preparation of a proposal for the National Capacity Self-Assessment Needs (NCSA) Project in these three thematic areas of environmental management. They hinge on human existence or survival. Implementation of this project is timely as government is also aware of the capacity needs of our natural resource management. Moreover, this could give us an opportunity to assess the capacities of the various local councils being put in place since they are to be the key institutions in implementing the programmes.

Mr Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the main objective of this NCSA project is to enable Sierra Leone to identify constraints and priority needs for effective implementation of the three environmental conventions mentioned above. Furthermore, the assessment will help avoid duplication and conflicting directions of efforts, and identify major overlaps in the activities of the three conventions with the aim of building synergies, since they are closely related. I therefore urge the Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment to closely collaborate with line Ministries, Departments, NGOs, CBOs, Private Sector and all stakeholders in natural resources management to produce a reflective proposal on capacity building.

The mounting pressure on our natural resources, particularly the illegal forest exploitation has been mainly responsible for the extensive land degradation, and drastic changes in the weather patterns, which has resulted in excessive heat and the force of storms. It has also affected the watershed and catchment areas leading to the early drying up of our once perennial rivers and streams. There is a continuing loss of biodiversity and wildlife and a gradual decent of the savanna eco-system in once forested areas. The rapid and uncontrolled sand extraction along our tourist-attraction areas is posing much concern to Government.

Aware of the destructive effect of such activities on future generations, my government and our partners are currently undertaking sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation in different parts of the country. In this we have been collaborating with both national and international NGOs as well as with Funding Agencies, to put in place a new approach in forest protection such as the Gola Forest Conservation Concession Project that will address not only the protection of the forest and its biodiversity, but will also provide sustainable benefit to the local community in perpetuity. In this connection we are disturbed by reports of a resurgence of logging activities for export. Government will take appropriate and prompt steps to arrest this development.

My Government is also working with the National Environmental Forum to address the sustainable environmental management of the Western Area Peninsula Forests and the adjacent coastal wetlands such as the Sierra Leone River Estuary and Yawri Bay - both being recognized as wetlands of international importance.

As we are all aware the Western Area Peninsula Forests are the main source of water to the Guma and Congo dams on which the supply of water to Freetown and its environs depends. Following the NEPAD meeting in Maputo, Government is also working with other stakeholders to develop eco-tourism in the Western Area Peninsula Forest, in the Outamba-Kilimi National Park (OKNP), in Tambaka Chiefdom in the North and on Tiwai Island in the Southeast. In this regard we are contacting other NEPAD members like Kenya and Tanzania which have had a long and successful experience in Eco-Tourism for their expertise.

Mr Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, let me also inform you that the Government of Sierra Leone has to prepare a Country Report to the Committee to review the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Land Degradation. In this regard, studies and sensitisation meetings have been held within the country with our Local Government and Professionals in sourcing information. A validation workshop for the preparation of this report will take place tomorrow. For the preparation of this Country Report, Provincial, District and Chiefdom Coordinating Committees were formed. This is a clear manifestation of devolving Central Government responsibilities to our Local Governments, where decisions are taken by the people themselves at the grassroots.

Mr Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I should like to take this opportunity to thank UNDP, GTZ and all other institutions which have played a role in providing a sound environment for all Sierra Leoneans. I also want to thank the Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment and his team for their tireless efforts in bringing this project to reality.

Mr Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I am appealing to all of us, especially the participants in tomorrow's validation workshop to make a meaningful and maximum contribution in order to produce a cogent Country Report on Desertification/Land Degradation which will give a clear picture on Sierra Leone's situation.

With these few remarks, it is now my singular pleasure to formally launch the National Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA) Needs Project for Sierra Leone and to call on key stakeholders to fully embrace the objectives of this project.

I wish you a resourceful deliberation.

Thank you for your attention.

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