Tacugama and West Africa Biodiversity Low Emission Development (WABiLED) began collaborating in Kilimi section of the Outamba Kilimi National Park in 2023 to promote conservation and protect wildlife. WABiLED is a USAID funded trans-boundary project between Guinea and Sierra Leone, Outamba Kilimi and Madina Oula (OKMO). Tacugama is a chimpanzee sanctuary, spearheading conservation and alternative community development and livelihood initiatives and is responsible to implement the project in Sierra Leone, while Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) is responsible to implement the project in Guinea. The project is focusing in the Kilimi section of the park, the activities include, but are not limited to: fire management, bio-monitoring, camera traps, Natural ecological regeneration (NER) and radio sensitization programmes.
In early March 2023, the Tacugama/WABiLED project recruited and trained 10 Biomonitors and one Biomonitoring field officer on camera traps and surveillance. After the training, the team started camera trapping mission in Kilimi section of the park led by, the Biomonitoring field officer, Emmanuel Sahr Johnny, total of seven (7) bio-monitoring patrols were conducted in the Kilimi section by the team. The purpose of conducting the surveillance is to know the type of animals and plant species, with a focus on mammals, studying their behavior and recording their locations in the park, and also to identify illegal environmental activities that occur in the park. The data analysis from camera traps shows that the Kilimi section captured important animal species in the park.
In April 2023, the communication and education officer, Foday S. Bangura and Lamin Nabie Kamara, started radio programmes at the radio Cart Barming Tonko Madina. This radio programme aims to educate and sensitize community members around Kilimi section on fire management, deforestation, poaching, illegal mining and the importance of conserving and protecting the park. A total of eighteen (18) live sessions have been conducted in 2023 and 2024.
During the session, Mr. Osman Bangura, one of the stakeholders in Kilimi section, hosted in radio Barming, thanked the Tacugama and WABiLED project for organizing radio programmes to sensitize community members around Kilimi section in order to stop or mitigate illegal activities in the park. He continued to talk to the people of Tambaka, especially in Kilimi section, during radio sessions, to embrace the project so that they can help develop the park for future generations.
During the bio-monitoring patrols, the WABiLED eco-guards conducted awareness raising sessions on fire, deforestation, mining, and poaching by using picture boxes as a way to demonstrate relevant topics. A total of sixty-three (63) awareness sessions were conducted between 2023 and 2024 in the Kilimi section in order to educate the community on how to take care of the park and the environment.
Pa Alimamy Momoh Kamara, one of the section chiefs in Kilimi section, appreciated the work of the Tacugama and WABiLED project and recognized them for their good support on the landscape. Due to the regular sensitizations by eco-guards, a good number of members of the community have understood the danger of bush fires and deforestation around the environment, and a shift in attitude and community perspectives has been observed. Before this project was initiated, there was no previous activity on the landscape that offered communities with livelihood activities in Kilimi section, but due to the intervention of Tacugama and WABiLED, many communities have become more environmentally aware and more empowered through their livelihood programs. They are now more actively in protecting their landscape.