During UN Climate Week in New York on September 24, 2025, Sierra Leone’s government signed two long-term partnership agreements with leading private sector carbon developers from the Association of Carbon Conservation and Reforestation (ACCR). The agreements are an important step in Sierra Leone’s efforts to scale nature-based climate solutions, expand green economic opportunities, and strengthen collaboration among the government, communities, and private investors. ACCR is a national trade association established by Invest Salone, a UK government programme, at the request of Sierra Leone’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change. The association represents six of the country’s largest private sector carbon developers: Rainforest Builder, West Africa Blue (also known as The Africa Conservation Initiative), Rewilding, Freetown the Treetown, Del Agua, and Gola Rainforest. All of these companies work closely with local communities to restore degraded ecosystems and connect restoration activities to sustainable livelihoods through carbon financing.
TRainforest Builder, based in Moyamba District, is overseeing a major tropical forest restoration project spanning 12,000 hectares of degraded land. Rainforest Builder, based in Moyamba District, is in charge of a major tropical forest restoration project encompassing 12,000 hectares of degraded land. The company reports that it has already created over 1,000 rural jobs through restoration and community engagement activities, with plans to increase employment opportunities to 2,400 by 2031. The project combines restoration science with community-based approaches to ensure that benefits reach local landowners and workers.
West Africa Blue focuses on restoring blue carbon in coastal and estuarine systems, including the Sherbro River Estuary. Its programme focuses on mangrove regeneration, marine biodiversity conservation, and the development of sustainable livelihoods for coastal communities, with a particular emphasis on empowering women through restoration-linked income opportunities. Together, ACCR members have already achieved measurable results in Sierra Leone’s landscapes and seascapes. The association reports that it has planted over 4.5 million trees and protected tens of thousands of hectares of forest and mangrove ecosystems. ACCR members have also distributed 250,000 efficient cookstoves, which improve household air quality and reduce emissions, and now employ over 4,500 people across the country.
ACCR announced that three of its members have now signed formal partnership agreements with government entities. The first of these agreements, with Del Agua, was ratified by Parliament in August 2024. Del Agua has over a decade of experience in clean cookstove carbon projects across Africa. They are collaborating with the Government of Sierra Leone under the “Livɛ Fyn” (Live Well) program. That initiative aims to distribute clean cookstoves to 700,000 households across the country, with over 1,600 youth volunteers promoting the program’s climate, health, and economic benefits.
Ben Hampson, Chairman of ACCR and Business Development Director at Rainforest Builder, described the new agreements as a watershed moment in the country’s carbon industry development. “ACCR acts as the unified voice of Sierra Leone’s private sector in carbon finance discussions,” he told reporters. “The signing of these agreements represents a significant step forward for Sierra Leone’s carbon industry development, with numerous opportunities for job creation, ecosystem restoration, and improved livelihoods in rural communities.” We are grateful to Sierra Leone’s government and Minister of Environment and Climate Change for championing this transformative initiative. ACCR fully supports the national vision of renewing ecosystems through innovative financing and the development of sustainable industries.
Hampson went on to say that establishing a national Carbon Market Framework would multiply benefits over the next two to five years, and that ACCR is willing to collaborate closely with the government to ensure that the framework is implemented quickly and fairly. The Sierra Leone government framed the partnerships as strategically important to the country’s environmental and economic goals. The agreements were identified by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change as a flagship effort to restore degraded lands, increase biodiversity, and establish Sierra Leone as a regional leader in nature-based climate solutions. The Ministry of Trade and Industry emphasised the potential for responsible private sector investment to create jobs and promote sustainable industries like agroforestry and carbon markets. The Ministry of Finance emphasised the long-term fiscal value of climate finance and the potential for these collaborations to contribute to Sierra Leone’s green growth strategy.
Representatives from the Ministries of Environment and Climate Change, Trade and Industry, Finance, and the President’s Office attended the signing ceremony in New York.
Parliamentary ratification of the newly signed agreements is expected to occur shortly. Sierra Leone’s goal with these arrangements is to scale restoration and community-focused climate action while creating long-term economic opportunities for rural and coastal populations.
