Protecting Customary Land Rights in Sierra Leone

Namati trains community-based paralegals across Sierra Leone to help villages understand and use land law, resist unfair concessions, and formally document customary land boundaries and governance rules. In the Gola Forest chiefdom, Namati-supported communities took a palm oil company to court over a 41,582-hectare lease signed without proper consent, and won a ruling that returned the land to more than 40 affected communities. Namati and its community partners also helped draft Sierra Leone's landmark 2022 Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts, which guarantee communities free, prior and informed consent over industrial projects on their land. The organization is now supporting hundreds of coastal communities in negotiations over mangrove carbon projects to ensure land and resource rights are protected as new climate finance arrives.