Dozens of luxury residences have been illegally built in a national park crucial to the environmental balance of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, according to an investigation revealed by the Associated Press (AP) and the specialized media outlet The Gecko Project. A government report, commissioned nearly four years ago by President Julius Maada Bio but never made public, implicates high-ranking officials in issuing land titles in violation of the law.
The construction projects are taking place in the Bio Barray neighborhood, partly located within the Western Area Peninsula National Park, a mountainous region the government hopes to have designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At least 50 houses have been built or are under construction there on land that was still covered in rainforest in 2019. On site, the Associated Press observed that the work is continuing.
The investigation, launched in 2022 following a devastating fire near a strategic reservoir, describes deforestation in the park as an "environmental time bomb." The site houses a reservoir that supplies approximately 90% of Freetown's drinking water. According to the report, continued deforestation and human activity could trigger a "water scarcity crisis."
Sierra Leone's capital is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the wooded hills of the national park, large portions of which have been degraded in recent years by real estate development, mining, cannabis cultivation, and charcoal production. The risk of landslides is also high: a disaster in 2017 on the edge of the park claimed more than 1,000 lives.
The 13-member investigative committee, including police officers, lawyers, NGO representatives, and a member of the Anti-Corruption Commission, analyzed satellite images and examined administrative documents. It found widespread and indiscriminate deforestation despite the ban on construction in this protected area.
The report indicates that officials at the Department of Lands, Housing and Development knew that "vast tracts" of public land were being illegally occupied, but were "reluctant to take vigorous action for unknown reasons." Some may even have encouraged or facilitated these encroachments for personal gain.
According to the document, former minister Denis Sandy allegedly signed at least 175 deeds granting land leases to private individuals, constituting a "flagrant violation" of the law, particularly the forestry law which prohibits any clearing or construction within a national park. The report recommends sanctions against him and 16 other officials named in the document. Denis Sandy did not respond to requests for comment.
Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, also an environmentalist and potential candidate in the next presidential election, said the government was "fully aware of what is going on" and denounced a system where influential people were allegedly allowed to circumvent the law.
