Pedro Cruz<BR>
Professor William Tomlinson<BR>
ICS 5<BR>
20 February 2013<BR><BR>

A Diamonded But Fragile State: Sierra Leone's Current Environmental Challenges
<BR><BR>Sierra Leone is located in the West Coast of Africa bordering on the north with Guinea and on the south with Liberia (see Fig. 1). Sierra Leone land area is 71, 620 square kilometers, approximately a sixth part of the state of California, with five and a half million habitants ("Agenda for Change"). Sierra Leone is rich in natural resources. Arable soils, forests, grasslands, freshwater resources, wetlands, wildlife, and extensive fisheries, and mineral resources enriched the biodiversity of Sierra Leone. Nonetheless, even with all its resources Sierra Leone's society journey has been painful due to war, poverty, hunger, corruption, and death. Sierra Leone's resources, specifically the revenues of diamond mining were used to fuel the civil war that lasted eleven years, from 1991 to 2002. (UNEP). The Foundation for Environmental Security & Sustainability (FESS), points out in its article "Improving Environmental Security in Sierra Leone: The Importance of Land Reclamation" that even though the civil war has stopped, environmental and socio-economic implications still remain affecting Sierra Leone. In addition to this, the FESS remarks that the "gap between the needs of the population and the availability of such necessities is becoming increasingly untenable". On other words, the sustainability of Sierra Leone's society development and growth is being jeopardized.
<BR><BR>As a result of the over exploitation of mineral resources specifically diamond and non-sustainable agriculture systems such as the slash-and-burn, Sierra Leone is confronting serious environmental challenges such as soil degradation, deforestation, and air pollution which are directly endangering the sustainability of  Sierra Leone biodiversity. Even though, the definition of biodiversity is broad, the variety of all life forms on earth, which includes unicellular bacteria, plants, animals, humans, and finally complete ecosystems, in Sierra Leone mining and agricultural practices are affecting biodiversity at all levels, complete ecosystems are disappearing. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) states in the report "Sierra Leone: Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding Assesment" that biodiversity in Sierra Leone is currently threaten by deforestation and mining. Before starting to describe and analyze the roots, magnitude and significance of three selected environmental issues, it is important to remark that there might be a potential overlap and contribution of other complex socioeconomic, cultural, historical, and political factors such as war, poverty, and cultural believes associated with the current environmental challenges in Sierra Leone. The World Meteorological Organization in its report: "Climate and Land Degradation " defines land degradation as the "reduction or loss, in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain-fed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest, and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i) soil erosion caused by wind and/or water; (ii) deterioration of the physical, chemical, and biological or economic properties of soil; and (iii) long-term loss of natural vegetation." Based on this definition, land degradation is a broad term which includes and soil degradation, and deforestation, which is defined as "human induced conversion of forested land to non-forested land" is part of land degradation. Diamond mining is a main root cause of soil degradation and deforestation of Sierra Leone. However, diamond mining also directly affects Sierra Leone's poverty, health conditions, and education. Diamond mining is a lucrative business also known as a "casino economy" for license holders. In a casino economy, license holders refer to its earnings as winnings. However, for the diggers, citizens of Sierra Leone mining is the only way to survive. Diggers normally work six days a week from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm  with a salary that ranges from 39 to 59 US cents and two cups of rice for lunch (The Diamonds and Human Security Project). It is important to notice that diggers do not wear appropriate gear which protect them from toxic mining chemicals. In the case of gold mining, diggers use highly toxic chemicals such as mercury to separate the gold from the rocks. In addition to this, mining contributes to the high school dropout rate in Sierra Leone since child labour is common in Sierra Leone  (The Diamonds and Human Security Project).
<BR><BR>In Sierra Leone the slash-and-burn type agricultural system is commonly used and is a main contributor to deforestation. To illustrate the magnitude of deforestation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its report: "Capacity Building for Sustainable and Land Management in Sierra Leone" states that Sierra Leone has lost 70% of its forests which initially occupied more than half of Sierra Leone's total land. The UNDP attributes the forest conversion to the slash-and-burn type agricultural system as a direct causes of land degradation. The slash-and-burn agricultural system consists of burning forests to transform them farming fields. It is obvious that in today's society, this technique is not sustainable because there is no comparison between the rate at which a tree grows and rate at which human population is currently growing.
<BR><BR>After evaluating, and analyzing the impacts of the environmental challenges Sierra Leone is facing, it is clear that the biodiversity of this country is decaying as a result of decades of continuous overexploitation of natural resources. However, the solution to these environmental problems as well as their root causes is very complex. The levels of poverty and lack of education of Sierra Leone's society are one of the main cause of all  injustices Sierra Leone have experienced. People with power, meaning foreigner international diamond companies, and politicians  have abused of Sierra Leone at all levels. It is inhuman the children are being exposed to mercury. It is unfair that the all of these natural resources that belong to the citizens of Sierra Leone are leaving the country, and that citizens are getting a few cents as a salary an two cups of rice. It is sad and depressing to realize that Sierra Leone is being a victim of the excess luxuries of the 'civilized' western countries. Information and technology systems may have an important effect on improving the environmental situation in Sierra Leone by informing and educating citizens about all the injustices and environmental effects they are experiencing. Even if information and technology systems in this case, is one computer per neighbored hood, it will still make a difference.

<BR><BR>Works Cited
<BR>Agenda for Change:Second Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP II). The Republic of Sierra Leone. 2008. Web. http://unipsil.unmissions.org/portals/unipsil/media/publications/agenda_for_change.pdf.
<BR>Diamond Industry Annual Review. Diamond Industry, n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2013. http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/annual-reviews-diamonds/SierraLeone_AR_2006-eng.pdf.
<BR>Climate and Land Degradation. Meteorological Organization in its report. Web. 20 Feb 2013. http://www.wmo.int/pages/themes/wmoprod/documents/WMO989E.pdf.
<BR>Improving Environmental Security in Sierra Leone: The Importance of Land Reclamation. Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability , n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2013. 	http://www.fessglobal.org/publications/issuebriefs/improving_environmental_security_i	n_sierra_leone.pdf.
<BR>Sierra Leone Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding Assessment. United Nations Environment Programme, n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2013.