Activist Tommy Garnett’s decades of work paid off when Sierra Leone’s Tiwai Island – a lush forest home to one of the world’s highest concentrations of primates – landed a spot on Sunday on the UN cultural agency’s World Heritage list.

The 66-year-old and the conservation group he founded are the reason Tiwai, which was nearly destroyed during Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war, still exists.

“I feel very happy, relieved, hopeful,” the environmentalist told AFP from the verdant island, ahead of the announcement.

The Gola-Tiwai complex, which also includes the nearby Gola Rainforest National Park, will be Sierra Leone’s first UNESCO site.

Full Article: https://trt.global/afrika-english/article/2729f8afcc6f

Listing: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1746