Sierra Leone Validates First Forest Emissions Benchmark

Sierra Leone Validates First Forest Emissions Benchmark

Sierra Leone has advanced efforts to access international climate finance following the validation of the methodology for its first Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL), a benchmark used to measure greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forests.

The initiative, developed under the Support to Sustainable Forestry in Sierra Leone Project, draws on data from the National Forest Inventory (NFI) and the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) to assess the country’s forest resources.

Speaking at a validation workshop, Director of Forestry, Mrs Kate M. B. Karemo-Garnett, said the exercise was aimed at reviewing the methodologies, assumptions and data sources that will inform the country’s forest emissions benchmark.

She explained that the process involves assessing emission factors for biomass and dead organic matter, alongside forest activity data obtained through monitoring systems and satellite imagery. It also examines emissions and removals associated with deforestation, forest degradation, reforestation and increases in forest carbon stocks.

Mrs Karemo-Garnett noted that using nationally generated data would provide a more accurate and transparent basis for reporting forest-related emissions and tracking progress in reducing them.

International FREL Consultant Esther Mertens outlined the requirements for submitting the benchmark to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She also discussed opportunities to access results-based climate funding through the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) framework.

The workshop is expected to produce validated methodologies, agreed data sources and technical information for preparing Sierra Leone’s FREL report, alongside a roadmap for its submission to the UNFCCC.

Once submitted and technically assessed, the FREL will establish a reference point for measuring future changes in forest-related emissions and removals. It is also expected to support forest conservation, restoration and sustainable forest management while strengthening Sierra Leone’s eligibility for international climate finance.

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