So I’m a bit confused by the paradox around my government attending the Climate Change COP26 summit in Scotland. Just to be clear,  I have no issues with our President and or government official is attending such a major conference as climate change is central to the collective survival of our human civilization. Yet, I have a major issue with the double edge hypocrisy;  Here is a country officially presiding over tree genocide through massive unregulated timber export in the north and northwest; Here is a country presiding over the massive deforestation of the Freetown peninsula through unregulated sales of land (breaching protected areas) for buildings  and pristine forests habitats to so-en-so investors; Here is a country where our official government vehicles are the gas guzzlers V8 SUVs with a high carbon footprint; Here is a country that declares the Chimpanzee as its national animal, yet we are actively busy destroying their home (habitat); infact at this moment Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary has no viable safe and unbreached 26 miles radius forest to return its more than 20 or so rehabilitated Chimpanzees. If you are attending a climate change summit, you must have at least checked the science that trees are the major sinks of carbon dioxide, a key atmospheric gas and driver for global warming and climate change.

So how then are you serious about climate change, when you are presiding over massive unregulated deforestation (tree genocide) and taking away the major global absorber (sink) of carbon dioxide? I hope at the end of the COP26 my government will commit to protecting our precious unique tropical forests including our precious endangered Beni trees (Pterocarpus, Dalbergia) in Koinadugu, Falaba, Kambia, Karene, Bombali,  Tonkolili, Kono, and Moyamba districts, and our numerous endemic plants and animal species. As one of the last vestiges of the original tropical rainforest, Sierra Leone is blessed with one of highest number of endemic plants and animal species; over 10 primate species, three big cat families including lions, elephants, pigmy hippopotamus call Outamba -Kilimi National Park in Karene district home. We must realize that our greatest moral responsibility is custody of the land for our future generations. Our lands must not be commodified but rather loved, respected, and its environments conserved for future generations. Alhaji U Njai #Meejoh #Jata #ThePeoplesScientist

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