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‘Catastrophic’: Sierra Leone sells rainforest for Chinese fish plant Karen McVeigh and Kabba Kargbo in Freetown
A $55m (£39m) deal struck by the government of Sierra Leone with China to build an industrial fishing harbour on 100 hectares (250 acres) of beach and protected rainforest has been criticised as “a catastrophic human and ecological disaster” by conservationists, landowners and rights groups.
The gold and black sands of Black Johnson beach fringe the African nation’s Western Area Peninsula national park, home to endangered species including the duiker antelope and pangolins. The waters are rich in sardines, barracuda and grouper, caught by local fishermen who produce 70% of the fish for the domestic market.
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The government of Sierra Leone has sold off 250 acres of protected rainforest and beach land to the Chinese. The proposed use is for fish meal production.
What this means is that vast quantities of fish are ground down to make fish meal pellets for export. Industrial fish meal production is hugely damaging to the environment. Fish meal factories discharge toxic chemicals. They destroy fish breeding grounds. They decimate fish stocks for local fishermen. They pollute both the land and ocean, killing fish, animals and plants. They wipe out the main local food source.
This cannot go ahead. It would cause an international ecological and national human disaster.
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