Mr. Abubakar Sesay of the Forestry Division hosted a live sensitisation programme on Radio Universal FM 98.7 on 6 June 2014, repeated on 9 June 2014 on Radio Democracy FM 98.1. Mr. Sesay informed the public about the Forestry Concessions Administration System (FCAS), which the Forestry Division uses to process and issue licences while keeping track of the revenue they generate.
He explained that the software will soon be deployed to the District Forest Offices, starting with a pilot in Kenema within a couple of months. Mr. Sesay also explained how to apply for the various commercial forestry licences and announced the User Guidelines, which are available under Licences and permits.
He emphasised that applicants for a Concession Agreement must provide the Ministry with a GPS survey of the intended operational area, to avoid overlapping concessions. Both programmes ended with an interactive session in which the public could ask questions.
Some questions concerned the User Guidelines; buyers asked how they could be sure of buying only legal forest products; and Mr. Sesay was asked whether the FCAS information would be made public. He explained that the data will soon be published through the Government of Sierra Leone's Online Repository. Concerns were also raised about sustainable management and illegal logging, and it was explained that 10 per cent of all export fees go directly to the reforestation fund.
Both programmes were aired twice, once in the morning and once in the evening.