Darkness had fallen by the time the boat set off across the river. On board were us, three foreign tourists; a mechanic, commissioned to make upgrades to the island’s facilities; and some local children who took it in turns to make the journey. At the boat’s helm was Alusine Koroma, a captain nicknamed “Pddy”, meaning “mosquito”.
The drive to the boat had taken most of the day, with delays caused by a policeman scouring for problems in the vehicle’s documentation, so he could demand a hefty bribe; and slow manoeuvres over muddy roads made treacherous by the unfinished rainy season.
Now, the small motorised boat wove along the water, with only a small light to guide the way. Then it pulled up to land, and we were pulled out on to Tiwai Island.
The wildlife sanctuary is on a 12sq km island in southeast Sierra Leone, close to the Liberian border. It is famous for being home to rare pygmy hippos, though few people seem to have seen them. Easier to spot are the birds, whose sounds fill the air, and monkeys such as Diana monkeys, black-and-white colobuses and red colobuses, high up in the trees. Visitors are led on forest walks during the day or night, or canoe rides, sometimes at sunset.
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Tiwai Island has been officially recognised as a wildlife sanctuary since the 1980s, but the civil war, which devastated the West African country for 11 years from 1991, saw research buildings torn down and the area occupied by rebels.
Tommy Garnett, executive director of the Environmental Foundation for Africa, has been behind Tiwai’s restoration as a nature reserve and research base, which may see it named as Sierra Leone’s first Unesco World Heritage site in the coming years, alongside the nearby Gola Rainforest National Park.
The 63-year-old – who has a background in agriculture and development economics – says his interest originated in the 1990s. It was during a period when he was spending a lot of time in Ireland, as his wife was Irish and his children were in school there. He would go into Irish schools and ask students: “When you hear the word Africa tell me one word that comes to mind?” They would say “war, hunger,” he explained. “What they didn’t know was that behind those bad news stories there were nice things.”
Garnett, a Sierra Leonean, began trying to identify places in the region that could be promoted internationally, and came upon Tiwai. Some logging and poaching was taking place, but Garnett hoped it could become “a haven for tourism and biological research”.
He held meetings with local communities and secured funding, with the island opening to the public in 2006. “Since then it’s been a challenge keeping it going. Suddenly Tiwai became the only shining star in a place which is very beautiful, but everybody around is poor. So the expectation was that Tiwai would provide for the needs and aspirations of everyone... That put a lot of pressure on us to try to manage these expectations.”
Koroma, the 34-year-old boat captain, also works as a tour guide. He said it took time for local communities to realise that conservation and tourism could benefit them, but since then poaching has mostly stopped and people have come to appreciate the efforts being made. “The community has agreed that we have to protect this place.”
He said he would encourage anyone to visit. “This is a unique area which is very peaceful, quiet, it has a lot of animals. Even the view of the river is very beautiful,” Koroma said. “We like people to come here to rest after spending some time in the city. When you come to Tiwai you feel happy. You feel like you are home.”
He said there are eight communities around Tiwai which are getting direct benefit from tourism, with about 20 locals employed as guides and rangers. Some visitors even pledge to pay money towards school fees for local children or other costs. “These people help the community a lot,” he said.
There have been big challenges. During the Ebola outbreak, between 2014 and 2015, tourism stopped. The same happened during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Koroma said, which led to much suffering, but now the situation is improving. “We need more people to come because as long as we are getting more people the community is getting better.”
Tiwai also has a research centre, hosting visitors from Sierra Leonean universities and others further afield. A group came recently to study bats, Koroma said. Several local guides have stories related to helping out a visiting pygmy hippo researcher.
Garnett has concerns about the future. “Right now Africa’s future as far as conserving nature is concerned is a challenging one, not least because it’s the continent with the fastest-growing population,” he said. One effort his organisation is making is “vigorously” working to make sure local children are more informed about nature, making them “stewards” of the environment.
The Irish embassy has been supporting Garnett’s organisation, funding a project which targets six primary schools located close to Tiwai Island. Along with learning about the natural environment, each child has the chance to plant their own tree. “It becomes the entry point to engage children for the environment,” Garnett said. “Because at the end of the day, we can only protect that which we love.”
