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Kikuube officials halt Bugoma Forest boundary reopening
A man rides through part of Bugoma Forest in Kikuube District last year. Kikuube District authorities halted the boundary reopening exercise over alleged irregularities. PHOTO/ALEX TUMUHIMBISE
What you need to know:
- The leaders say the government surveyors did not consult the residents when embarking of the exercise.
The reopening of the Bugoma Forest boundaries hangs in the balance after Kikuube District authorities halted the exercise over alleged irregularities.
The exercise, which kicked off in November last year and was being carried out by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, was meant to resolve the contention between locals and the National Forestry Authority (NFA).
However, leaders say the surveyors failed to consult and engage the residents during the exercise.
“Officials from the Ministry of Lands, who were carrying out the demarcation exercise, did not want the community to hire a private surveyor to work hand in hand with them,” Mr Vincent Alpha Opio, the Kikuube District vice chairperson, said in an interview on Tuesday.
The Buhaguzi County MP, Mr Francis Kazini, said: “The whole exercise needs to be revised because any project without the approval of the local community cannot be successful. The NFA promised to carry out the exercise together with the local leaders and the community but ignored them when they kicked off the exercise.”
The Nyairongo Village chairperson, Mr Desire Nkurunziza, welcomed the decision to halt the boundary reopening exercise.
Mr Hassan Mugenyi, a resident of Nyairongo Village in Hoima District, said several hectares of land belonging to residents in 13 villages neighbouring the forest reserve have been annexed to the forest without their consent.
“I am happy that the entire process has been halted to ensure that the mistakes are corrected,” Mr Mugenyi said.
Mr Fax Asizua, the assistant commissioner for mapping and surveys in the Lands ministry, who led the team of surveyors undertaking the boundary reopening exercise, said they are in discussions with the district leaders to ensure that the mistakes are corrected.
He, however, did not mention when they intend to resume the exercise.
Background
Bugoma central forest reserve has been the centre of contention since 2016 when the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom leased 22 square miles to Hoima Sugar Limited for 99 years.
However, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) found 13 of the 22 square miles unfit for sugar plantation and recommended their preservation since it is a wetland and forest reserve.
Consequently, NFA allowed Hoima Sugar factory to cultivate sugarcane on the remaining 9.24 square miles covering the grassland, establish an urban centre on 1.26 square miles, an eco-tourism centre on 1.97 square miles, and restore 3.13 square miles of the forest reserve.
They also recommended the preservation of another 0.156 hectares for the cultural site and 6.17 square miles as a natural forest.
However, several conservationists have opposed the move, saying the giveaway is not only a threat to the ecosystem and endangered species but it is also likely to hurt tourism activities, which are a source of revenue for the local communities and the country.
Bunyoro Kitara said the land that was leased to Hoima Sugar is not part of Bugoma Forest but the Kingdom’s Ancestral land that is adjacent to the forest reserve.
Covering 410 square kilometers of a protected area and a stretch of forest measuring 40 kilometers, Bugoma is a tropical forest that was gazetted in 1932.
