IOM Sierra Leone tweeted about a field visit to Plantain Island in Sierra Leone, which is one of the places in Sierra Leone dealing with the effect of climate change. The tweet mentions that the Honorable Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change, EPA Director, and IOM Development Fund were present on the trip1.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Plantain Island is recognized as a vital transit point, business center, and fishing hub1. The IOM is working on a project to address the vulnerability of coastal communities in Sierra Leone, including Plantain and Yelibuya Islands, to prevent displacement and enhance the government’s disaster preparedness and response capacity12.
The project aims to generate insights into the impacts of climate change on vulnerable coastal communities and deploy them to develop informed policies to safeguard the interests of Sierra Leonean coastal communities12. The project is innovative in its application of advanced technology and data analysis methodologies, such as the utilization of the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and satellite-based information, to generate island-specific data on a large scale.
The IOM project is empowering national authorities to conduct socioeconomic and environmental assessments of vulnerable coastal communities, which will help decision-makers develop informed policies to safeguard the interests of Sierra Leonean coastal communities