Berliner Boersenzeitung - S.Leone islanders despair as rising ocean threatens survival

EUR -
AED 4.321812
AFN 81.778475
ALL 97.807915
AMD 451.522417
ANG 2.105826
AOA 1078.975935
ARS 1497.858918
AUD 1.782891
AWG 2.1203
AZN 2.003467
BAM 1.958825
BBD 2.375879
BDT 143.852751
BGN 1.955449
BHD 0.443461
BIF 3448.722982
BMD 1.176637
BND 1.503428
BOB 8.131661
BRL 6.502917
BSD 1.176722
BTN 101.638383
BWP 15.726352
BYN 3.850963
BYR 23062.084763
BZD 2.36368
CAD 1.604915
CDF 3399.304014
CHF 0.934602
CLF 0.028509
CLP 1118.428525
CNY 8.42508
CNH 8.416437
COP 4792.44241
CRC 594.019817
CUC 1.176637
CUP 31.18088
CVE 110.750939
CZK 24.543438
DJF 209.111894
DKK 7.46472
DOP 71.069427
DZD 152.314056
EGP 57.729813
ERN 17.649555
ETB 162.489305
FJD 2.631784
FKP 0.867152
GBP 0.870447
GEL 3.189133
GGP 0.867152
GHS 12.248736
GIP 0.867152
GMD 84.718139
GNF 10184.969946
GTQ 9.030984
GYD 246.193313
HKD 9.236524
HNL 31.004102
HRK 7.530594
HTG 154.419112
HUF 397.311473
IDR 19170.122632
ILS 3.940052
IMP 0.867152
INR 101.698267
IQD 1541.394441
IRR 49551.125457
ISK 142.185238
JEP 0.867152
JMD 188.400931
JOD 0.83419
JPY 172.756173
KES 152.416682
KGS 102.723591
KHR 4730.080727
KMF 492.424927
KPW 1058.985243
KRW 1614.628346
KWD 0.358989
KYD 0.980618
KZT 638.716314
LAK 25374.17602
LBP 105367.841564
LKR 355.15844
LRD 236.504179
LSL 20.603033
LTL 3.474303
LVL 0.711736
LYD 6.365994
MAD 10.576496
MDL 19.786639
MGA 5212.501968
MKD 61.655471
MMK 2469.56788
MNT 4224.654056
MOP 9.514514
MRU 46.853959
MUR 53.360445
MVR 18.133544
MWK 2043.231378
MXN 21.82045
MYR 4.960117
MZN 75.257962
NAD 20.602607
NGN 1803.31433
NIO 43.241088
NOK 11.899289
NPR 162.621814
NZD 1.947978
OMR 0.452427
PAB 1.176732
PEN 4.184153
PGK 4.859805
PHP 66.949425
PKR 335.606274
PLN 4.255864
PYG 8813.647599
QAR 4.283661
RON 5.06872
RSD 117.115322
RUB 93.250047
RWF 1693.768929
SAR 4.414495
SBD 9.748549
SCR 17.179139
SDG 706.569921
SEK 11.195983
SGD 1.502924
SHP 0.924652
SLE 27.004126
SLL 24673.493748
SOS 672.449625
SRD 43.053737
STD 24354.009818
STN 25.015302
SVC 10.295943
SYP 15298.619199
SZL 20.603299
THB 37.935127
TJS 11.179005
TMT 4.129996
TND 3.371948
TOP 2.755805
TRY 47.62427
TTD 7.997384
TWD 34.594896
TZS 3023.956576
UAH 49.163528
UGX 4222.538441
USD 1.176637
UYU 47.062875
UZS 15043.303564
VES 141.518132
VND 30751.407413
VUV 140.969699
WST 3.234348
XAF 656.9743
XAG 0.030152
XAU 0.000349
XCD 3.17992
XCG 2.120775
XDR 0.815746
XOF 656.56318
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.510991
ZAR 20.755917
ZMK 10591.135741
ZMW 27.445732
ZWL 378.876627
  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    22.41

    -0.09%

  • BCC

    -1.8950

    86.455

    -2.19%

  • JRI

    -0.0500

    13.16

    -0.38%

  • CMSD

    0.0090

    22.899

    +0.04%

  • RIO

    -0.7930

    63.827

    -1.24%

  • SCS

    -0.2150

    10.465

    -2.05%

  • BCE

    -0.1150

    24.485

    -0.47%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • NGG

    -0.2000

    72.45

    -0.28%

  • RBGPF

    7.0000

    75

    +9.33%

  • BTI

    0.2550

    52.625

    +0.48%

  • RYCEF

    0.2000

    13.5

    +1.48%

  • VOD

    0.2500

    11.55

    +2.16%

  • GSK

    -0.0950

    37.935

    -0.25%

  • AZN

    0.6850

    73.685

    +0.93%

  • RELX

    0.6900

    53.78

    +1.28%

  • BP

    -0.5700

    32.14

    -1.77%

Advertisement Image
S.Leone islanders despair as rising ocean threatens survival
S.Leone islanders despair as rising ocean threatens survival / Photo: PATRICK MEINHARDT - AFP

S.Leone islanders despair as rising ocean threatens survival

Wading through water up to his knees, Hassan Kargbo points to the vast ocean before him, which is eroding the land and imperilling residents' survival on his island off Sierra Leone.

Advertisement Image

Text size:

"Where we are now, it used to be my house, and we used to have a big football field," Kargbo said, but "the water destroyed everything".

Over the past five years the 35-year-old fisherman has seen the losses pile up as the rising Atlantic waters, which threaten millions across his west African nation, have claimed enormous portions of his island.

The inhabitants of Nyangai, located in the Turtle Islands off southern Sierra Leone, have made virtually no contribution to global warming, driven by humanity's burning of fossil fuels.

Yet they are widely considered the country's first people displaced by climate change, as the ever-hotter temperatures melt more of the Earth's ice caps, swelling the seas around the archipelago.

The majority of Nyangai's exhausted residents have lost their belongings and homes several times over, as they crowd further into the island's interior.

An AFP team was able to visit several of the Turtle Islands, travelling seven hours by canoe in rough seas from the capital, Freetown.

On arrival in Nyangai, pelican colonies, white sand beaches and palm trees make the island appear almost like a paradise.

Then the devastation comes into focus: palm trees uprooted by wind and wave, beaches littered with branches and debris, sandbags serving as insufficient ramparts, abandoned furniture scattered by people who have long moved on.

In less than 10 years, the island has lost two-thirds of its surface area, and now measures only about 200 metres long and 100 metres wide (approximately 650 by 330 feet).

Seen from above, all that remains is a small islet ringed by fishing canoes, with thatched-roof shacks clustered tightly in the centre.

- Water 'always coming' -

Ten years ago, Nyangai still had a thousand inhabitants. Although there is no official census, community leaders estimate that fewer than 300 residents remain.

Goats and chickens roam between houses made of white tarpaulins stretched around wooden frames. Fishermen mend their nets, women smoke and dry fish on the sand, and children scamper on the beach.

Due to the shrinking space, the island is incredibly overcrowded. Drinkable water is lacking due to the soil's saltiness and there are no toilets, electricity or health clinics. Residents use the beach as an open-air washroom.

Impoverished Sierra Leone is one of the nations most threatened by global warming.

More than two million people along Sierra Leone's coast are threatened by rising sea levels, according to a June 2024 study by the country's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and the NGO Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

The country is "highly vulnerable to the increased frequency and severity of coastal erosion and sea level rise linked to the effects of climate change and human activities", the study said.

Fisherman and community chief Amidou Bureh stood on the beach looking far out into the ocean where the land used to be.

"We had many trees here, mangoes, coconut and other trees, but over the years water has destroyed all of them," the 60-year-old said.

Letting out a sudden cry of despair, he said: "The water is always coming, coming, coming and destroying us and our properties. All the people need is help, and we are asking for more help."

Officials and international organisations have not provided any concrete assistance beyond recommending relocation, he added.

Kargbo said that his family has already lost its belongings and rebuilt their house in Nyangai twice. But the sea is at their door once again.

"I have no confidence that Nyangai will continue to exist," he said, explaining that he has made the difficult decision to prepare to move to Sei island, where the terrain is less flat.

"It costs me a lot of money to buy sticks, to buy zinc, anytime I want to construct a new house after moving from the other one," he said, lamenting his poor wages as a fisherman.

"To live in this island is really stressful." he said. "I don't want to continue that."

- 'Devastating' -

Sierra Leone's environment and climate change minister, Jiwoh Abdulai, told AFP that what is happening on the islands is now beyond an emergency.

"It is really heart-wrenching to see how devastating the impact is on people's lives," he said.

On AFP's first morning in Nyangai, parts of the island had been washed out by an overnight storm.

Mohamed Kamara, a 19-year-old father, surveyed the damage sustained by his property following the violent winds and rain.

Other shacks nearby were gutted, with tarps and planks covering holes caused by the tempest.

In his small family courtyard several women were busy sorting through items swept onto the soggy sand floor: plastic basins, drenched clothes, pieces of fishing nets.

Kamara said his family had been suffering from similar weather since 2018, including in February when an uprooted tree badly damaged their home.

Feeling sapped and defeated, they plan to leave the island for the capital or another major city this year.

- Islands 'will go' -

Several hours away from Nyangai by canoe on Plantain island, some 355 school children attend class in a building located precariously on a ravaged bank.

In July 2023, tragedy was avoided when the waters swept away an empty part of the building, where children had been studying just the day before.

Ousmane Kamara, the school's director and the island's imam, told AFP there was no other place for the children to study

In the ocean in front of him, the minaret of a now-submerged mosque poked out.

Beyond it lies an islet that used to be part of Plantain but is now a separate body of land. In the surrounding waters, there had been hundreds of homes, according to community members.

The island's new mosque has been fitted with stones and wood in an attempt to keep water from reaching the interior.

That endeavour has only been somewhat successful.

"We have a fear that maybe one day while we are in the mosque, the waves will come and will trash everything," Kamara said.

Plantain, whose population once numbered in the thousands, has been losing land and residents for decades due to rising water.

The island has traditionally been a crossroads for trade, agriculture, fishing and maritime transport in addition to a tourist spot, particularly for its ruins dating back to the slave trade.

But its structures have gradually been submerged.

Those who were unable to leave due to a lack of financial resources were forced to move further inland, where they are once again under threat.

Joseph Rahall, a Sierra Leone environmental expert, gives the Turtle Islands 10 to 15 years before they disappear.

"The entire archipelago will go, it's just a question of time," he said.

- 'Our home' -

The crisis also threatens the islanders' social and cultural traditions.

"When the sea takes over, everything goes, a culture of fishing disappears," Rahall said.

Climate change erases an entire way of life, he said, including "traditions, culture, the way of doing business".

For Abdulai, the environment minister, the residents "need interventions now".

"We need to get them out of there, we are just trying to get the resources to be able to do so", he said.

But the cost is an issue.

"What we keep telling the world is that climate change is having a devastating impact not just on our people but on our budget", he said.

Many Nyangai and Plantain residents told AFP they feel abandoned by the authorities as their homes disappear.

As the muezzin's call for late afternoon prayers carried across the small island of Nyangai, Bureh contemplated the ocean engulfing his life.

"Our worry is the water, that the water will destroy us," he said.

But he added: "For me I don't plan to go anywhere because this is our home".

(K.Müller--BBZ)

Advertisement Image