About BirdLife Africa

Who we are

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) striving to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards the sustainable use of natural resources. In Africa, the BirdLife Africa Partnership is a growing network of 24 such organisations, with a combined total of more than 500 staff and 87,000 members.  Through projects, BirdLife is active in a further 15 countries, hence overall working in a total of 39 countries.

What we do

BirdLife’s work in Africa is aligned to the four pillars of the BirdLife strategy: Species, Sites and Habitats, Ecological Sustainability and People.  Within this framework, the BirdLife Africa Partnership emphasises developing positive linkages between birds, biodiversity and the livelihoods of people. 

The BirdLife Africa Partnership wishes to significantly reduce and reverse the rate of loss of the region’s biodiversity. Our efforts to achieve this focus on conservation action for priority species, Important Bird Areas and priority habitats for bird and biodiversity conservation.  We also work to empower local people to analyze threats and develop safeguard options that suit local socio-economic contexts and use existing indigenous knowledge.  Furthermore, the Partnership is continuously developing alliances with both government and non-governmental agencies, to promote policies that address the most important threats to biodiversity.

BirdLife Africa Partners strive for innovation through research, implementation of cutting-edge and science-based conservation action, and the application of creative tools and IT in environmental education. Partners address the contemporary issues of poverty, climate change, green economy and governance, to achieve sustainable development through a broad agenda focusing on birds and other fauna and flora.

Where we work

The BirdLife Partnership in Africa works in the most well-endowed continent in the world, stretching from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones.

Africa boasts perhaps the world's largest combination of density and diversity of free-range wild animals, many of which are prone to anthropogenic pressures. For example, Africa has over 60 species of primates, and new ones are still being discovered. Africa has over 2,310 bird species of which almost 1,400 are endemic to the continent. This includes two endemic bird orders and 10 endemic families. Some 248 bird species in Africa are globally threatened and while another 117 are listed as Near Threatened, hence of global conservation interest.

A network of over 1,250 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) covering 2 million km² (7% of the region's land area) have been identified across the continent’s 59 countries and territories. Sixty-seven Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) and secondary areas have also been identified within Africa. These sites provide a practical focus for the conservation efforts by governments, civil society organisations, as well as other stakeholders.

The major threats to biodiversity in Africa stem from agricultural expansion and intensification, logging, unsustainable exploitation, urban expansion and habitat alteration, industrialisation and the resultant pollution, invasive species, and recently the emerging issues such as climate change and land grabs, biofuels and targeting key biodiversity sites for development. The underlying factors driving these threats include run-away population growth rates, political instability and conflicts, ineffective governance systems and ineffective environmental policies.

The BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat

BirdLife Partners in Africa are supported by a Secretariat with its main office in Nairobi, Kenya. The Secretariat exists to ensure that the BirdLife Partners in Africa have access to financial and technical resources, credibility and influence, profile and connections necessary to deliver the BirdLife programme in Africa. The Secretariat also helps to conserve Africa’s birds, key sites and habitats in areas where there is no Partner.

Mission of the organisation

To promote conservation (wise use) and management of natural resources for sustainable development in Sierra Leone.

Key Activities

•Education and public awareness

•Provide information and data based resource center for conservation and the environmental acitivites. 

•Biological research and site based action for species sites and habitats

•Policy and advocacy

•Communication partnerships and linkages with other environmental conservation organizations and agencies.

Recent Achievements

•Organizational Strengthening  For Improved Governance: CSSL made tremendous strides between 2011-2013 to rejuvenate the organisation’s capacity and profile and has effectively re-launched the organization.. For that reason, BLI wrote to CSSL on 2 October 2012 confirming such achievement and restoring the Society’s partner status once again.

•Environmental Education: CSSL has had a great legacy in fostering the development of young conservationists. Through internship opportunities, the Society has been the starting point for scores of  young conservationists who have gone on to further their conservation career nationally and internationally.

•School Nature Clubs: CSSL has successfully engaged  tens of hundred of Sierra Leone’s school children through its continuous work with Nature Clubs which were spread throughout the country before the past civil conflict but which is now concentrated in Freetown, Daru in the eastern province and Bonthe in the southern province.

•Wildlife Week Celebrations: The popular Wildlife Week celebrations  began in  1990s as national calender activities to raise awareness about the importance of wildlife and environmental conservation. They have been held annually since then, including during the civil war.

•The Gola Rain Forest Programme: Now a world renowned conservation project the Gola Forest Programme (GFP) is a tripartite programme managed by three institutions including the Ministry of Agric. Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).. One of the greatest achievements of the project is the declaration, by His Excellency the President of Sierra Leone, the Gola Forest as a National Park on the 03 December 2011.  The programme attracts over USD 1 million in funding annually.

•Sea Turtle Coservation Programme: Another of CSSL’s best known conservation projects is the endangered sea turtle project funded by the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service. As a result of this successful awareness raising and community development project, there has been a drastic drop in the rate at which sea turtles have been endangered  with  extinction  on Sierra Leone’s beaches.Programme now being devolved to new NGO since August 2012.

•Environmental Justice Foundation is working with the EJF/CSSL project officer  on the Illegal Unregulated and Unreported(IUU) fishing project and have so far achieved the following:

i. Increased awareness of sustainable fisheries practices and methods resulting  in significant reductions in the use of illegal fishing nets and practices.

ii. Formation of  School Nature Clubs  in over 30 schools in project areas.

iii. Reduction in the unsustainable harvesting of the mangrove vegetation.

iv. Increased involvement of the local councillors in the co-management of the coastal and marine resources.

•The Regional Coastal and Marine Conservation Programme (PRCM) based at CSSL from 2009 to 2012  successfully completed the pilot project of the in West Africa in June 2012. This project has laid the strong foundation for the establishment of the Yawri Bay as the first Marine Protected Area in Sierra Leone.

•Collaborated with RSPB scientists to conduct baseline surveys and record habitat usage by the Emerald Starling birds species in 3 areas of Sierra Leone.