Tiwai Island
Encyclopedia
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. Run by the non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
Environmental Foundation for Africa
Environmental Foundation for Africa
The Environmental Foundation for Africa is a Sierra Leone non-governmental organization founded in 1992 that aims to protect and restore the environment in West Africa....
, Tiwai is 12 square kilometers in area and located on the Moa River
Moa River
The Moa River is a river in west Africa. It arises in the highlands of Guinea and flows southwest, forming parts of the Guinea–Liberia and the Guinea – Sierra Leone borders. It flows into the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Both Tiwai Island and Sulima are located on the Moa....
in the Southern Province
Southern Province, Sierra Leone
The Southern Province is one of three provinces of Sierra Leone. It covers an area of 19,694 km² and has a population of 1,377,067 . It consists of four districts . Its capital and administrative center is Bo, which is also the second largest and second most populated city in Sierra Leone...
. It is also one the largest inland islands in the country.
History
Tiwai belong to the Barri people until the late 19th century when Queen Nyarroh the Barri ChiefParamount chief
A paramount chief is the highest-level traditional chief or political leader in a regional or local polity or country typically administered politically with a chief-based system. This definition is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to the rulers of multiple...
gave half the Island to the Koya Chief whose territory was on the opposite side of the River Moa River
Moa River
The Moa River is a river in west Africa. It arises in the highlands of Guinea and flows southwest, forming parts of the Guinea–Liberia and the Guinea – Sierra Leone borders. It flows into the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Both Tiwai Island and Sulima are located on the Moa....
where the Island is located. From then on both peoples share ownership of the Island. In the late 1970s the Island was recognised as a special biosphere
Biosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
for wildlife conservation
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
. Numerous natural scientists visited the island during the 1970s and 1980s, researching various aspects of its flora and fauna. Subsequently, some researchers along with the Barri and Koya people then requested that it became a wildlife sanctuary and in 1987 it was official designated a game reserve. Activities including community conservation program, ecological research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, wildlife management
Wildlife management
Wildlife management attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science. Wildlife management can include game keeping, wildlife conservation and pest control...
, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and forestry management
Forest management
200px|thumb|right|[[Sustainable development|Sustainable]] forest management carried out by [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli|Complejo Panguipulli]] has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], a sawmill town in Chile...
training took place on the Island. Then, in 1991 civil war
Sierra Leone Civil War
The Sierra Leone Civil War began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front , with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia , intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government...
broke out in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
financial support for the Tiwai was stopped and researchers and tourists were unable to reach the Island. After the end of the civil war the Environmental Foundation for Africa
Environmental Foundation for Africa
The Environmental Foundation for Africa is a Sierra Leone non-governmental organization founded in 1992 that aims to protect and restore the environment in West Africa....
, a local Sierra Leonean NGO, rebuilt both tourism and researcher facilities on the island.
Geography
Tiwai Island is located in the Southern ProvinceSouthern Province, Sierra Leone
The Southern Province is one of three provinces of Sierra Leone. It covers an area of 19,694 km² and has a population of 1,377,067 . It consists of four districts . Its capital and administrative center is Bo, which is also the second largest and second most populated city in Sierra Leone...
, 15 km from the town of Potoru on the Moa River
Moa River
The Moa River is a river in west Africa. It arises in the highlands of Guinea and flows southwest, forming parts of the Guinea–Liberia and the Guinea – Sierra Leone borders. It flows into the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Both Tiwai Island and Sulima are located on the Moa....
60 km from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The Island has area of 1,200 hectares (12 km2) and is between 80 and 100 meters above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. The climate on the Island is tropical with a rainy season between May and October and a dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
between December and March. The average temperature is 27°C and rainfall is about 3,000 mm a year.
Biology
The Island is home to a population of pygmy hippopotamusPygmy Hippopotamus
The pygmy hippopotamus is a large mammal native to the forests and swamps of western Africa . The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal...
, over 135 different species of birds and "one of the highest concentration and diversity of primates in the world … 11 species."