Abstract
This article examines the issue of deforestation on Sierra Leone's Freetown Peninsula, specifically analysing the gap that exists between the rhetoric surrounding the problem of deforestation and the subsequent policies and projects that are implemented to address it. It is argued in this paper that this gap can be better understood by examining how different actors involved in policy and projects interact over the issue of deforestation. Such an examination reveals how these actors produce discourses of blame towards poorer, politically weaker groups, which ultimately results in deforestation 'solutions' that intervene into their lives. These prescriptions of blame and subsequent solutions for deforestation are negotiated through a combination of local realities, which includes the occurrence of deforestation, and global influences such as development discourses and interventions. The analysis here reflects a political ecology framework that also draws from post-structuralist insights and reveals how underlying discourses, actions and actors across a broad political, social and economic spectrum ultimately play a role in influencing the causes, perceptions and solutions relating to deforestation.Keywords: Deforestation, Political Ecology, Freetown, Discourses, Development, Sierra Leone, Africa
Highlights
This 'blame the poor' perception sits more conveniently in development's broader discourse. It was reflected overtly in a response from a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative involved in financing a project, titled: "The Fuelwood Project of Youth Empowerment and Sustainable Management of the Western Area Peninsula Forest." After declaring that deforestation was one of the greatest threats to Freetown due to its adverse impacts on the city's water supply, he calmly noted when challenged about the issue of urban encroachment by wealthy residents: I am not against urban encroachment into the forest as it is providing jobs for the youth of Sierra Leone. (Interview, June 2008)
Deforestation concerns by urban-centric actors surrounding the Freetown Peninsula's forests have existed since the earliest settlement of Freetown, becoming more formalised in the early part of the 20th century when the British Colonial Government established a Forestry Department and the Western Area Peninsula Reserve
Evolving from this colonial past has been a strong tendency towards blaming poverty, and the poor, for the Freetown Peninsula's perceived deforestation woes
Summary
A key element in understanding the nuances of this 'wealthy' urban encroachment lies in the political contestations that have occurred across two key government ministries and between the two major political parties. The debacle between these two Ministries came to the fore in 2005, when the Government party in power, through pressure from the NGO community, established a National Commission for Environment and Forestry (NaCEF) under the Vice President's office, which assumed control over 'environment' and 'forestry' issues from the two ministries. NGOs active in trying to prevent deforestation on the peninsula need to negotiate complicated relations with both government bodies and international donors, which subsequently constrains their interventions. It is within this complex structural social reality that popularised policy solutions for deforestation are introduced
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
