23/05/2026
Develop Salone-DESAL NGO join the world to celebrate the international Biodiversity Day which is celebrated May 22 of every year.
This year theme "Acting Locally for Global Imapct" is a call to action to halt and reverse the loss of Biodiversity.
This call is one that needs concerted effort, hence, DESAL brought local stakeholders in Karene District i.e. Community leaders, community groups, ministries, Agencies, local government and other development stakeholders to observe the significance of the day of Biodiversity.
The Biodiversity planโโ campaign aiming to communicate and promote the 4 Goals and the 23 targets of the framework to the world. Communicating the Biodiversity plan is crucial to enabling a whole- of- society approach that will take the world from agreement to action.
Gracing the occasion are representatives from the ministry of Social Welfare, the ministry of Agriculture, the ministry of Gender, the Karene District Council, AAD-SL NGO, and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
Speaking at the oceasion the chairlady for the Beekeepers in Rokupr stated that one of the most celebrated outcomes was the inclusion of women in beekeeping, a trade previously dominated by men.
โWe are very happy for the introduction of beekeeping. Now we women can harvest honey and process it ourselves. Before this, harvesting and processing honey was a job only for men. We were completely left out. Today we stand here as proof that women can do this work too,โ said the Chairlady of the Women Beekeepers in Rokupr.
Local leaders credited sustained training by DESAL and its donor partner Trocaire with changing community attitudes toward forest management and bush burning.
โWe express our deep gratitude to DESAL and their donor partner, Trรณcaire, for the several trainings they have conducted on Biodiversity. Through these trainings, we now understand the need to preserve the forest. We now know why we must avoid bush burning โ so that other species can survive alongside us,โ said Paramount Section Chief Abdul Rahman Bangura of Makalie.
Several speakers reported visible ecological recovery after years of degradation from logging and charcoal burning.
โThe negative human activities of logging trees in the forest and charcoal burning led to the disappearance of animals in the forest. Animals that were previously visible within the community could no longer be found. But with the many trainings and guidance offered to us on Biodiversity and climate change, we can now boast of having regained those animals. We did this by implementing the bye-laws and by developing and protecting the degraded islands and conservation sites provided to us by DESAL,โ a Community Leader (People Supported) told attendees.
Communities also reported that wetlands, which had dried up during the dry season, are now holding water again.
โThe wetlands that were supposed to maintain water during the dry season had no more water. But now, with upholding the practices of Biodiversity, we have seen changes. During the dry season, water is now available again. This is the result of what we have been practising,โ community members said.
The Deputy Agricultural Officer for Karene District commended the beekeeping initiative and urged communities to maintain local conservation bye-laws.
โWe laud the introduction of beekeeping to women in the communities. This is a step in the right direction. I call on all community stakeholders to maintain the various bye-laws on the Community-Based Natural Resource Management โ the CBNRM. These bye-laws must be upheld so that species can survive, ecosystems can heal, and communities can continue to benefit,โ the officer said.
The Project Cordinator, Ibrahim Kamara stated that the celebration demonstrated that communities, when equipped with knowledge, governance structures, and institutional support, can reverse environmental degradation.
The event served as both a milestone assessment and a platform for documenting lived experiences from communities at the forefront of environmental stewardship in Karene District.
