NFA clears part of Barifa forest

Arua. The National Forestry Authority (NFA) is in the spotlight for cutting down the natural eucalyptus trees in Barifa Forest Reserve.

The 236 hectare Barifa Forest is located in the eastern outskirts of Arua Municipality.
The clearance of the forest has provoked memories of 2010 when Gen Salim Saleh cleared a huge part of the forest, promising to use it as a temporary base for paying out gratuity arrears to ex-servicemen ahead of the February 2011 General Election.

Ms Juliet Candiru, a resident of Mvara Ward, which borders Barifa forest, says huge trees are being cut down despite calls by the government to plant more trees to combat global warming.

“Those who want to clear this forest for selfish interests should be stopped because the forest has several benefits,” she said.
Forests act as water catchment areas, absorption for noxious emissions from factories besides providing a cool breeze and beautifying towns.

The LC3 chairperson for Arua Hill Division, Ms Nezma Ocokoru, insists the forest reserve must be protected.
“What kind of development will be carried out on that land? The residents are concerned about its clearance,” Ms Ocokoru said.
According to Ms Ocokoru, the municipality plans to degazette the forest reserve for expansion of Arua into a city and preserve the natural resource.

“People should be on watch and guard this forest,” she cautions.
Speaking to Daily Monitor at the weekend, the sector manager NFA for Arua District, Mr Stephen Ndemere, said: “The area has been cleared to establish a tree bank for the first phase of 5,000 seedlings. They were uprooted to level the area for planting.

The public should calm down, there is nothing like land grabbing. It is still NFA managing the forest.”
Mr Ndemere revealed that they will plant trees on the 100 by 50 metre piece of land which has been cleared under the Grow Trees programme being implemented by NFA and Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra).

Forest reserves across the country are of interest to both developers and environmentalists. Whereas developers target them for decongesting cities, environmentalists insist they help in increasing urban biodiversity, providing plants and animals with a favourable habitat and should be protected.

Background
In 2010 after razing of the forest, the Ayivu County Member of Parliament, Mr Bernard Atiku, mobilised residents in a demonstration to plant trees in the cleared areas but they were blocked by police.
In 2013 Gen Saleh withdrew his containers from Barifa Forest Reserve to pave the way for development of the area.

Mr Caesar Lukalu, the officer in-charge of the forest, who had also been overseeing the project on behalf of Gen Saleh, denied bowing to pressure to leave the land.

The project
When contacted over the matter last week, Mr Atiku said: “I was briefed that NFA entered into an Memorandum of Understanding with Unra for the next five years to raise seedlings that will be used for greening road reserves in the region. For now, I think we can give them the benefit of doubt. In this era of land fraud, we must at all time remain alert.”

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