Revoked infrastructure & new investment, Sierra Leone

Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 18 August 2017 from 19:07:41 to 19:08:06 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 03 March 2018 at 11:09:39 UTC
Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 15 April 2018 from 19:07:40 to 19:08:05 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 17 April 2018 at 11:06:51 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 27 January 2019 at 11:13:29 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Coastal, urban, beach, estuary, mangrove, forest, biodiversity, fishing, infrastructures, airport.
Fig. 1 - S2 (27.01.2019) - Freetown Peninsula lies between Sierra Leone estuary at north-east and Yawri bay at south-east.
2D view
Fig. 2 - S1 (15.04.2018) - Freetown was originally a deep water port in fish-filled waters. The capital now sprawls beyond the peninsula.
2D view
Fig. 3 - S2 (03.03.2018) - Sierra Leone River Estuary Ramsar site is a Ramsar site due to its biodiversity.
2D view
On the other side of the estuary, Lungi airport is the only international airport in Sierra Leone but is penalized by the lack of a bridge across the large river.
Fig. 4 - S2 (07.04.2016) - Financed by a Chinese loan, Mamamah International Airport has finally been cancelled as an excessively costly project at $400 million.
2D view
Fig. 5 - S2 (17.04.2018) - Pristine forest and beach on the western shore of Freetown peninsula will be the site of a fishmeal factory.
2D view
Sierra Leone has sold an ecotourism destination for a Chinese fishing port after more than 100 hectares of pristine forest and beach at Black Johnson have been sold to a Chinese state-owned enterprise for the construction of a fishmeal factory. It is feared artisanal fishing and ecotourism in the region will come to an end.
Industrial fishing is already unbalancing the sharing of catches, problem exacerbated by illegal, unregulated and unreported vessels. The project may jeopardize the entire nation’s food security where 80 percent of the country’s protein comes from fish and artisanal fishing is most coastal families’ mainstay.
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
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