RESOLVE launches the Peace Diamonds Restoration Initiative to restore, rehabilitate, and repurpose land left degraded by artisanal and small-scale diamond mining in developing economy countries like Sierra Leone.
Jewelry Leaders Give Back by Restoring Lands Degraded by Diamond Mining
Today, RESOLVE announced the Peace Diamonds Restoration Initiative to restore, rehabilitate, and repurpose land that was degraded by artisanal and small-scale diamond mining in developing economy countries. The initiative addresses problems associated with abandoned, water-filled pits and depleted soils, which prevent basic farming and pose safety risks to neighboring communities.
The Peace Diamonds Restoration Initiative has launched in Africa, starting in Sierra Leone, which emerged from a history of armed conflict in which diamonds played a role. Sierra Leone and other mining nations face a legacy of abandoned pits, degraded lands, and unhealthy, contaminated water.
[Image of before and after land reclamation]
Before and after the Peace Diamonds Restoration Initiative intervention at Nyangida, Kono District, Sierra Leone. Filling in this flooded pit reduced health and safety hazards and created arable land for rice cultivation.
Through the Peace Diamonds Restoration Initiative, RESOLVE field staff work together with national and regional governments, local leaders, and other community members to turn abandoned pits into arable land for agricultural and other sustainable uses while improving public health. The initiative also promotes gender equity at each site by promoting women's participation in early consultations and decision-making and offering entrepreneurial workshops for women and girls who, ultimately, become the primary stewards of the land following restoration.
"We have an opportunity to start again. The wide range of support provided to us by Peace Diamonds truly brings healing and cohesion to us as a group and redeems the years we lost when these lands were not restored after diamond mining."
– Fea Momoh, leader of the Kuyendoya farmer-based organization, a mini-agricultural cooperative
The Peace Diamonds Restoration Initiative is the latest project to be launched under RESOLVE's Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) program. Peace Diamonds is launching with a catalytic grant from The Tiffany & Co. Foundation as a founding supporter. Brilliant Earth and the Gemological Institute of America are also providing funding to support the initiative. The design of the initiative and early pilots was supported by the Anglo American Foundation.
Tommie-Lynne Enright
RESOLVE
May 3, 2022
At RESOLVE, we’re here to tackle the toughest global challenges. The ones nobody else wants to touch. Where people are in conflict and planet problems are stuck. We’re here to unstick them. It’s not easy. It takes grit and ingenuity. And finding and working with the right partners. But we’re not called RESOLVE for nothing.
