Workshop on Environmental Management in Sierra Leone

In collaboration with Sierra Leone’s National Minerals Agency, the IGF recently delivered a four-day training on environmental management in Freetown.

The workshop brought together around 50 participants from across Sierra Leone’s mining and environment institutions to build practical skills for managing water, waste, and biodiversity in the mining sector.

Over the four days, participants explored:

• How to review water management plans and identify good practices
• Key issues and options for biodiversity management
• Approaches to mine waste management, including main sources of waste, waste characterization and segregation, and tailings storage
• Core principles of mine closure and options for post-mining land use
• How reclamation and the mitigation hierarchy can help reduce environmental harm

Alongside classroom sessions and interactive discussions, participants also visited the Marampa iron ore mine to see environmental management practices first-hand. Together, these learning and field-based components helped equip participants with additional knowledge and tools to strengthen environmental management in Sierra Leone’s mining sector.