Wastelands
Wastelands is an ongoing series investigating the profound effects of environmental degradation in Sierra Leone. From pollution and waste management challenges to deforestation and sand mining, this visual series seeks to capture how human activity damages ecosystems.
Sand mining poses a major threat to Sierra Leone’s coast, where truckloads are hauled daily from mangrove sites near Deep Water Eye. The practice provides livelihoods but is driving severe erosion and environmental destruction.
In Lungi, in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, plastics, used syringes, diapers, and other waste litter the beach, even as fishermen cast their nets into the same polluted waters. These fishermen depend on the ocean for their livelihood, and once the catch is brought in, local women—known as "fish mammies"—collect and sell the fish, helping sustain the community.
A common traditional method here is "chain fishing," where groups of fishermen work together to encircle schools of fish with a chain and pull it ashore, a demanding task that even young boys join in. This practice highlights the community’s cultural connection to the sea and the value they place on teamwork.
But their way of life is increasingly at risk. Pollution and overfishing—especially from foreign trawlers equipped with advanced technology—are rapidly depleting fish stocks. Operating in the same waters, these industrial vessels leave local fishermen with shrinking catches, creating economic strain and rising tension within the community.
