Prime
Let’s protect our natural forests
Andrew Mafundo
What you need to know:
Illegal loggers. Key officials in local governments collude with illegal loggers by facilitating permits for timber transport. This confirms the assertion that forest loss is largely a result not of economic and demographic forces per se, but of institutional failures to contain such forces.
According to the 2016 joint water and environment sector review report, Uganda’s forest cover had reduced from 24 per cent in 1990 to just 11 per cent in 2015. We were losing on average 122,000 hectares of forest cover every year. The situation is blamed partly on Uganda’s population growth rate that averages 3.2 per cent per annum and has adverse effects on biodiversity. A high population creates a rise in demand for food, forest products and services, which spurs incentives to convert forests to farmland.
Environmentalists have warned that because forests are important integrated ecosystems and home to millions of people and animals, their continued loss will have dire consequences, especially on climate change that can undermine future economic development and threaten social stability of communities. Uganda, like many other developing countries, is either not able or lacks the political will to protect biodiversity. About 493 out of 506 central forest reserves are under heavy encroachment, especially in central, south western and northern regions. Forest protection teams lack sufficient funding, infrastructure and equipment for the job leaving most of the recommended conservation and protection policies and strategies only available on paper.
The ever growing demand for timber and charcoal is another issue of concern and it is expected to get worse. Charcoal remains the most popular energy source for use in 90 per cent of households in Kampala and other urban areas while more than 75 per cent of rural households use firewood to cook, which wood they get from cutting down trees. Poor rural electrification and costly electricity have been identified as other major causes of charcoal trade.
Additionally, illegal logging has also become semi-legal and rapidly established as the de facto institutional arrangement governing Uganda’s forests. The State and its actors have not paid any attention to this activity yet it is a major environmental and economic problem. Corruption, bribery and greed are often at the root of such illegal practices. It is alleged that in the legal concessions, illegal logging gangs continue to operate along logging roads, basic security measures are lacking, and road barriers remain unmanned.
Key officials in local governments collude with illegal loggers by facilitating permits for timber transport. This confirms the assertion that forest loss is largely a result not of economic and demographic forces per se, but of institutional failures to contain such forces. A few weeks ago, a private conservation firm operating in Bugoma forest was reported to be pleading for government agencies to investigate circumstances under which an alleged investor was issued a land title within the central forest reserve.
Uganda has carried out several excellent environmental policies, legal and institutional reforms aimed at promoting the conservation and sustainable use of the country’s forest resources. They include putting in place of the National Forestry Policy 2001, Enactment of the National Forestry and Tree Planting Act 2003, establishment of the Forest Sector Support Department, the National Forestry Authority, District Forestry Services and the Environmental Protection Police Unit and the recent Cabinet approval of the National Climate Change Bill. Nonetheless, Uganda has the highest forest conversion in East Africa. For example, statistics from Masaka District Forestry Department indicate that Masaka sub-region has 29 government forest reserves, but more than five of them have been degraded.
Experts argue that there is lack of understanding about the pressures and demands being placed on forests as well as serious dialogue about sustainability and use of renewable energy alternatives is long overdue. The National Forestry Authority, as a body mandated to manage forest reserves, will have to make hard choices if they wish to stem this biological catastrophe. Not all is lost though.
The government intends to restore 100 million hectares of currently deforested and degraded land by 2030. And last month, NFA announced that it had suspended issuance of licenses for tree harvesting in natural forests. They also revealed plans of using drones for monitoring natural forests to check on destruction and encroachment. Enforcement of national law is critical to protect our ecosystems and NFA efforts in that regard should be supported.
Mr Mafundo is the executive director Citizens’ Concern Africa-CICOA
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