● Gola national park is in Southeast Sierra Leone and is identified by the RSPB as one of the 35 critical biodiversity hotspots around the world due to species richness and level of threat
● Started in 2012, the project works with local communities to manage the park’s forests sustainably through land use, planning, agroforestry, health, education and sustainable agriculture
● A total of 140,000 hectares are being managed with 70,000 hectares of the park itself and the same again as a buffer zone
● Currently 168 staff are employed, and 122 communities supported. Training and support in sustainable cocoa production has opened routes to developed markets
● Habitat protection has been provided for 327 bird species, 650 endemic plant species, and 49 species of larger mammals, including the elusive Pygmy Hippo and the Western Chimpanzee
● Over the thirty-year project lifetime, the project is anticipated to avoid more than 15 million tons of CO2e from being released into the atmosphere
The following Sustainable Development Goals are being pursued with this project: