Over 80 participants including Councillors, Chairladies, Headmen, Harbor Masters, Fishermen, Fishmongers, Sea turtle monitors and other key stakeholders in Turtle and Sherbro Island Communities, Deima Chiefdom, Bonthe District, commended the Reptile and Amphibian Program-Sierra Leone (RAP-SL) for the impact it has created in the chiefdom, especially in the areas of education and enlightenment, for which they pledged their unwavering support for the project.
Among others, the Paramount Chief, Speaker and other stakeholders revealed that all the four sections in the chiefdom have two schools each, underscoring that they have realized more benefits now than when they used to kill sea turtles.
The Paramount Chief of Deima Chiefdom, Bonthe District, P.C. Anshun Ngabay IV, commended the RAP-SL for bringing enlightenment and education to the chiefdom, sensitizing them about the importance of mangroves, turtles, manates and other sea animals, in addition to empowering them. He acclaimed the people for adhering to the laws prohibiting the killing of sea turtles and cutting down of mangroves.
This disclosure was made on Thursday 30th April 2026 at the Deima Chiefdom Administration Community Barry in Chepu, during a sensitization meeting organized by RAP-SL on the protection of the sea turtles, manates, other reptiles and mangroves.
As for mangrove cutting, he quickly mentioned that most of the cutting is done in other places, adding that locals from Turtle Island only buy logs/wood for fish processing. Furthering that he is partnering with neighbouring chiefdoms to enforce the laws on mangroves and also the protection of sea turtles, other animals and mangroves. He reminded the people that the local fine for killing a turtle is Le500 in Deima, therefore people must stay away from killing turtles and all other protected species in Sierra Leone. If someone is caught clandestinely violating any of the laws, that person will face the full force of the law.
However, the Paramount Chief raised concerns about other issues the people want RAP-SL to address, such as improved energy efficient ovens. He maintained that though Mr. Eddie, with support from donors, has provided more than 150 improved ovens, but that they are not enough, adding that the people want more. If the conservation laws are to be adhered to, NGOs must provide for the people, for which he thanked Mr Eddie and his Program (RAP-SL) for the support they are giving to the people of Turtle Island and the Deima Chiefdom.
The Paramount Chief underscored the need for healthy competition from other NGOs because together they can achieve their goal of a sustainable Sierra Leone, stressing that healthy competition is good for the development of any country and community.
One development the Paramount Chief denounced is the mining of Zircon. He disclosed that there is no mining of the zircon mineral in the chiefdom, although five investors have expressed interest to do so, asserting that if they allow the mining of zircon to go on, the island would sink. He ended by encouraging the people to report all cases undermining development to the authorities.
The Founder and Managing Director of RAP-SL, Mr. Edward Aruna, disclosed that they are still highly engaged in the protection and conservation of Sea Turtles, Manatees and Mangroves as their flagship species, while not also forgetting all other threatened and endangered species, including the biodiversity of Sierra Leone.
He went on to highlight the award he received from His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, Prince William, for his work to protect sea turtles and manatees under the TUSK support. He further stated support from other donors, including PRCM, for sea turtles and mangroves, RAMPAO, for sustainable utilization of coastal resources. Together, he said, the donors are working towards a common goal: the protection of marine resources in Sierra Leone, and therefore called on all Sierra Leoneans to consider the protection and conservation of our natural resources as a prime responsibility.
Mr. Aruna went further to state that climate change is real and therefore people should not overlook its effect, as its effect is happening right inside of Turtle Islands, with the continued loss their island. For sea turtles, he said the climate change issue is highly affecting their population in a way that there are presently more male sea turtles than females. He disclosed that 99% of turtles caught in fishing activities in Sierra Leone are all females. The male turtles have long tails, which it used during mating, while the females have very short tails. The male turtles never leave the water; it is only the female turtles that come onto the beaches to lay eggs on sandy beaches, from where temperature influences sex determination. Sand temperature between 27-28 degrees result in 50/50% chance of eggs hatching into females and males, while temperature below 27 degrees result in all eggs hatching to males, and above 28 degrees, all to females.
He maintained that the reason for more female turtles in our waters and in the bycatch records is due to the temperature on sandy beaches in Sierra Leone, which are mostly above 28 degrees in most places.
As for manatees, he stated that so far RAP-SL has recorded them in both Bonthe and Moyamba Districts, but with similar threats. RAP-SL is therefore calling on the general populace to help protect the species since they are protected by law in Sierra Leone.
Mangroves, he said, are quite important plants in coastal environs and therefore deserve total protection for a healthy coastal marine resources. The role mangroves play in the lives of all marine biodiversity are invaluable. Worldwide, mangroves are protected for their role in carbon sequestration and the invaluable gains they hold for communities that protect and plant them. Because mangroves dwell in marine environs doesn’t necessarily mean they use saltwater for their living. Mangroves do not strictly require saltwater to survive, they can grow in freshwater too. They are salt-tolerant plants that thrive in salty or brackish conditions, primarily because saltwater eliminates competition from other plant species that cannot survive in high salinity.
However, though they live in saltwater, they filter out 90–97% of salt at their roots or excrete it through glands in their leaves. They live in salty, waterlogged, low-oxygen mud, not because they need the salt to survive, but because they are adapted to it. The 24-hour exercise in salt filtration makes them the best suited in carbon sequestration. For more effort in conserving mangroves in Sierra Leone, RAP-SL is currently undertaking studies on mangroves with the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, Njala University and two other Universities in Europe. The effort is ongoing in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Mr Aruna ended by saying that there are presently organizations in Sierra Leone working on mangrove for carbon credit, but that RAP-SL is working on mangroves for conservation purposes, “we have not gone into carbon credit issues for now”, he stressed. He appealed to the people to properly manage their natural resources, and warned that climate change and the environment have no boundaries.
During the experience sharing session, it was disclosed that Sierra Leone has vast mangrove areas that qualifies for blue carbon that can be sold to other countries, and that all that is left now is more awareness about mangroves and other marine resources like sea turtles, manatees and many more.
As for the improved ovens, the people disclosed that there is high demand for more-improved and cost-effective ovens. A fishmonger revealed that from Le2000 (New Leones) she now uses only Le400 New Leones worth of firewood and that they can even use coconut shells to dry their fish. Mr Aruna disclosed that a new and more durable 8ft x 4 ft wire-mesh will now be used to replace the old ones and that surveys will be conducted for new communities that will benefit from the cost effective ovens.
A question and answer session and distribution of T-shirts climaxed the highly-interactive engagement.