Sierra Leone - State of the Marine Environment 2015

Executive summary

The coastal zone and “Exclusive Economic Zone” of Sierra Leone covers an area of about 160,000 km 2 from Kiragba in the north to Mano in the south. Sierra Leone’s coastline measures 560 km, much of which is sheltered. The sheltered coast is dominated by extensive mangrove systems (230 km) and mudflats. Only 150 km of the coastline is significantly developed or urbanized and this includes Freetown (the capital). Currently about 70 hotels and tourist resorts are found along the western Area Peninsula coastline. Elsewhere

the coastline is largely undeveloped except for some fish landing sites and cold storage infrastructure used to process and store fish and shrimps. The contribution of the coastal zone to the national economy is significant. The coastal zone of Sierra Leone is one of the most densely populated areas of the country and is already vulnerable to a number of natural and man-made hazards including inundations from the major rivers flowing through Sierra Leone to the coast, flash floods which come down from a number of rivers during the monsoon period and also saline

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