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travel: Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest Named UNESCO World Heritage Site 

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17th July 2025
By James Hamilton

Forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). Credit: Thomas Breuer

Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest National Park has been officially designated a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, recognising its extraordinary global value for wildlife conservation and ecosystem services.

The newly recognised Gola-Tiwai Complex - comprising the 71,000-hectare Gola Rainforest National Park and the adjacent Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, joins the ranks of global natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Great Barrier Reef.

Home to more than 320 bird species and rare wildlife including Pygmy Hippos, Forest Elephants, Chimpanzees, and Pangolins, the rainforest is one of the last strongholds of the Upper Guinean Forest ecosystem in West Africa. It also harbours more than 600 butterfly species and threatened birds like the Timneh Parrot and the enigmatic White-necked Picathartes.

“The RSPB has been involved in conservation here, alongside our partners, for over 30 years, and we are delighted that Gola has now been declared a new UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site,” said Katie-jo Luxton, Director of Conservation at the RSPB. “This fantastic news is a testament to what can be achieved at a landscape scale by working closely with local communities and governments, as well as national and international partners.”

Fomba Kanneh from Gola Rainforest Conservation, which manages the park, called the announcement “a powerful affirmation of the generations of stewardship by local communities.” He added, “I feel honoured and humbled to be part of this historic moment.”

The rainforest is not only a biodiversity hotspot, but also a crucial ally in the fight against climate change. It locks away an estimated 19 million tonnes of carbon and provides essential habitat for migratory birds, such as Swifts, that rely on its canopy during seasonal journeys to and from Europe.

Decades of deforestation, poaching, and encroachment - particularly during Sierra Leone’s civil war - threatened the region's ecological integrity. However, sustained conservation efforts since the 1990s have led to major progress.

In 2013, the RSPB and its partners launched a groundbreaking REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project—the only one of its kind in West Africa. It funds conservation activities through the sale of carbon credits, supporting ranger patrols and local development.
The project benefits 122 surrounding communities by providing 600 annual school scholarships, training over 2,500 cocoa farmers in sustainable agriculture, and completing more than 70 community infrastructure projects.

The Gola Rainforest sits within the broader Greater Gola Landscape, a 350,000-hectare area stretching across the Sierra Leone–Liberia border. While the newly designated World Heritage Site currently includes only Sierra Leonean territory, efforts are underway to extend the status into Liberia, further bolstering cross-border conservation.

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