Sierra Leone’s Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary has reopened its doors to visitors after a five-month closure aimed at protesting deforestation around the Western Area Peninsula National Park. The sanctuary, located within the park, provides refuge for over 120 orphaned and rescued chimpanzees, most of whom were victims of poaching or habitat loss. At Tacugama, the animals go through multiple rehabilitation stages before they are deemed ready to return to the wild. “We have stages two to five for rehabilitation, with stage five being the final stage before release,” says tour guide Sulaiman Albert Sesay.
Founded in 1995 by conservationist Bala Amarasekaran, Tacugama has faced numerous challenges over the decades, including civil war and Ebola outbreaks. Today, it is Sierra Leone’s leading ecotourism destination and a model for wildlife conservation in West Africa. The temporary closure was a bold move by Amarasekaran to pressure the government into better protecting the surrounding forest. The sanctuary’s management says their efforts have yielded results: authorities have strengthened law enforcement, and tree-planting initiatives are underway. “We started planting 100,000 trees about ten days ago and have reached around 60,000 so far. This will help restore buffer zones around the sanctuary,” Amarasekaran said.
The Western Area Peninsula National Park is a biodiversity hotspot, home to 80–90% of Sierra Leone’s terrestrial species, and has been accepted as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reopening of Tacugama marks a renewed commitment to safeguarding both the chimpanzees and their forest habitat.
