Environment Protection Agency Strategic Plan 2017-2021.

This Environment Protection Agency Strategic Plan 2017- 2021 is a nationwide sectoral document developed in line with the national social and economic development path included in the Country’s Agenda for Prosperity 2013 - 2018 and other national and international benchmarks in order to contribute to achieving the Vision statement of the Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone (EPA-SL) of ensuring the sustainable use of the natural resources while contributing to poverty reduction through effective protection and sound environmental management. The document also includes other crosscutting issues mainstreamed in environmental protection and management, such as youth-led and women-led initiatives.
The overall goal of the Plan is to bring about measurable and sustainable improvements in the environment and national living conditions through enabling policy framework, partnerships and capacities for action for a more equitable access to and return on benefit from the natural resources. To achieve the aforementioned main goal, 2 main Strategic Objectives should be achieved (i) ensure that Sierra Leone has adequate and sustained capacity for effective environmental governance and decentralized service delivery; and (ii) ensure that environmental sustainability principles are effectively mainstreamed into all national development policies, programmes and plans. Consequently, the main interventions will concern the following fields (i) Environmental Governance; (ii) Coordination, Protection and Management; (iii) Environmental Mainstreaming, Education and Capacity Building; (iv) Chemical Management and Pollution Control; (v) Natural Resources Management; and (vi) Climate Change Program Management.
To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the EPA Strategic Plan envisages to (i) expand priority actions on adaptation and mitigation by sectors into concrete projects to reduce the negative impact of climate change on the rural population because of their high dependence on rain-fed agriculture and natural resource-based livelihoods; and (ii) stenghten the natural resources Governance system.