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The proposed carbon credit

Author: Puawui - Dr. Sama Banya - Freetown

From the many telephone enquiries that I have continued to receive it would appear that many people do not understand what is meant by carbon credit and other related matters. Some would like to know how to get involved and how much initial investment would be required to make a start. Others who have some knowledge about the carbon initiative are concerned that greedy people with close connection to the corridors of power would like to monopolize the venture all to themselves because they see the potential fortune waiting to be tapped for doing precious nothing beyond the advantage of political connection.

To begin with, the carbon credit is not a commodity like rice in which people could trade in competition with others or to the exclusion of all else. The concept is one of indirect conservation which would minimize the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and thus prevent climate change. Readers may recall that recently I wrote about the carbon cycle in nature and how any shift of equilibrium would shift the balance and lead to excess accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere. This is one direct consequence of severe deforestation and other activities which are carried out by man through, excessive logging, shifting method of brush and burn cultivation, mining, the extension of human settlements, environmental degradation, (Bormeh) etc. All the above result in large green losses and the pouring into the atmosphere of pollutants. The reduced amount of green vegetation becomes incapable of absorbing a the carbon and other noxious compounds that are poured into the atmosphere eventually leading to the green house effect that I described in a previous article.

There is a scheme under consideration which is an inducement for us to protect our environment and preserve our forests; the more forests that we reserve, the higher the amount of carbon compounds that are absorbed. The quantum of financial compensation is therefore directly related to the estimated quantity of carbon that would be absorbed. We already have one of the few remaining rainforests in the sub region and that is the Gola Forest in the south-eastern part of the country. Part of this unique forest extends into neighbouring Liberia. Readers may recall that recently President Ernest Bai Koroma and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia signed a protocol establishing the area as a Peace Park. President Koroma also plans to declare the rest of Gola as a National Park. At the moment we have a Gola Forest Conservation Programme which is managed jointly by the government of Sierra Leone, the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone CSSL, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the United Kingdom and the communities of the seven chiefdoms surrounding Gola. The forest is preserved in perpetuity; the communities receive compensation for loss of income by not allowing logging, mining, farming and other causes of deforestation. There is to be a Trust Fund from which support for the Programme and the development needs of the communities for example education, health welfare etc. would be met. Under the carbon exchange scheme as outlined above the government of Sierra Leone could receive financial compensation which could be poured into the project.

The Western Area Peninsular Forests have suffered much destruction from deforestation activities so that they have been fragmented and are still under severe pressure from the expansion of human settlements. We in the Conservation Society are making the preservation of these forests a priority concern, not just for their usefulness in conserving our water supply, us but for our children’s children. Should we, with government support succeed, then they would qualify for the carbon trade. The compensation thus obtained would be used for the development of all the communities. Selfish individuals who have no interest in the conservation of these forests with their unique biodiversity, nor in the welfare and development of the area, are only keen to make money by becoming agents for the scheme. The government has set up an Environmental Protection Agency EPA. Who better to enter such a transaction other than the EPA either alone or in collaboration with the Gola Forest Conservation Programme. The last thing the government must do is to allow selfish-motivated individuals to jump in with no other purpose but to line their pockets.

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The proposed carbon credit

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