A critical history of forest conservation in Sierra Leone

© 2014 Dr. Paul George MunroIn this thesis, I unravel the complex forest conservation history of Sierra Leone during the 20th century, providing a better understanding of how contemporary forest conservation practices and discourses in the country have been framed and developed. Using an interpretative analytical approach, grounded in a political ecology framework, I develop a critical history which is not simply concerned with recounting policies and initiatives to manage Sierra Leone’s forests, but rather attending to the complicated social, economic and political contexts that have shaped approaches to forests over time. The thesis’s empirical chapters are divided along the lines of key colonial and post-colonial forest conservation programs adopted by the country’s Forestry Department: 1) Forest Reservation; 2) Afforestation; 3) Exploitation; and 4) Wildlife Conservation. Such a division provides an analytical approach to unravelling the genealogical foundations of colonial forest conservation ideas and praxis that have been developed in the country. To this end, across these chapters, I examine how ‘forest conservation’ has been defined temporally – in what ways, for what ends, and through what means. This includes developing an understanding of how historical events, processes, and individuals have shaped forestry practices and policies in the country over the past century. Ultimately, through such a process, I am able to develop a critical space to formulate an appreciation of how many contemporary forestry policies and approaches in Sierra Leone are a deeply grounded in past colonial policies and ideas