As Sierra Leone NGO, YARDO-SL wins a global award…More trees for Kissy and Wellington Community to combat disasters
Freetown City, like many other cities in the global south, is challenged with the impacts of extreme weather conditions due to our changing climate. Over the last years, the city has lost over 2,000 residents due to environmental hazards such as mudslides, flash floods, etc. The 2017 Freetown mudslide incident at the regent community that resulted to the loss of thousands of lives and destruction of millions worth of property is a wake-up call for action.
The #FreetownTheTreetown2 was launched to help reduce environmental risks through nature-based solutions and influence community behavioral change through raising awareness. The project aims to plant 1,000,000 trees before the end of 2024.
YARDO-SL as a strategic partner to the #FreetownTheTreetown project won a grant from the Global Development Network Inc. as the winner of the Most Innovative Development Project 2022.
These competitive global grant will enabled YARDO-SL to scale the project to new geographical areas within Freetown. The project expected outcomes are:
• Restoration of 20 hectares of degraded ecosystem through active planting of 20,000 seedlings
• Strengthened community-based environmental stewardship through training of 200 Community Climate Ambassadors
• 14 Short term green jobs created

What does this mean?
The impacts of the project cannot be underestimated as results shown from previous implementation areas shows impressive tree survival rate. This, according to Ahmid C Jalloh (YARDO’s Executive Director) is mainly due to community led approach wherein the tree planters and growers are from within the community serving as tree stewards and trained as community climate action ambassadors to help influence behavioral change in the communities.
Planting 20,000 seedlings means boosting the local economy by creating market for nursery suppliers. To plant and grow the trees means to create short term jobs, at a time when unemployment rates are very high in Freetown. This has the tendency to boost household incomes and transform lives. Examples can be drawn from previous interviews of growers, where Jim Baimba of Wellington has stated how payments for tree growing has enabled him pay his college fees for the past two years, otherwise he could not have been able to attend college. Others have stated how the project has helped them addressed issue of hunger and child care, amongst many other benefits. Also, planting 20,000 trees means restoring about 20 hectares of degraded ecosystems in mangrove areas or watersheds. That is huge, that is about the size of 20 football field put together! The outcome will improve water retention capacity of the watersheds, reduce erosion and floods etc.
In all of this, two things will stand out women empowerment and collaborations. This will be an opportunity for women in those communities to improve their knowledge on environmental management, have a voice through advocacy and raising awareness, and been employed too. As for collaboration, the community will work with the National Protected Area Authority, Freetown City Council, National Water Resources Management Agency as facilitated by YARDO to help overcome climate-induced disaster risk through nature-based solution in their communities, and Freetown City as a whole.