FORESTS IN DANGER: Bunyoro forests being eaten away by encroachers

Feresto Kato is a happy farmer. He has a five-acre rice plantation which he has grown on the river banks of River Wambabya in Hoima district. “I expect a rich harvest where I hope to realise millions of shillings. I will use this money to buy a car,” the 37-year-old farmer says. He however does not concede that he has encroached on a protected area. He is among thousands of people who have over-run several forest reserves and royal forest plantations in Bunyoro region.

The encroachers are clearing forests and have set up settlements and gardens. Others graze domestic animals in these environmentally-sensitive areas. Crafty timber dealers are also reportedly harvesting timber from these forests while other traders are burning charcoal for sale from these forests.

One of these charcoal traders is Mr Eryasafu Lubwama, who lives in Buseruka Sub-county in Hoima district. “I sell over 100 sacks of charcoal per week. Each sack costs Shs40,000. I bought this 280 acre piece of forested land at Shs8m from one Bizimungu in September, 2010,” Lubwama says. His land, which is located in Katooke LCI, is also claimed by Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, which insists that it is part of the kingdom’s Katooke forest, a traditional hunting ground for the Omukama.

Bunyoro is richly endowed with forests which unfortunately are being cleared at an alarming rate. “The forests which the Banyoro have preserved for generations, are being cleared by mainly emigrants,” the Bunyoro Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Eng Yabeezi Kiiza said. He said the kingdom’s environment ministry has initiated a tree planting campaign to complement the efforts of environmentalists who are fighting environmental degradation.

“We want all our forests. They are being destroyed by people who claim to own them yet they were planted by the kingdom. It is time to regain them and conserve them,” Eng Kiiza said.He added that among the forests that were restitute to the kingdom are Kagadi, Kakumiro, Ndaiga, Masindi, Musoma, Wampanga and Hoima eucalyptus plantation.The king decried the massive deforestation in Bunyoro, which he said is fuelling climate change, drought, famine and loss of soil fertility.

Forest cover
The region, which comprises the districts of Hoima, Kibaale, Buliisa, Masindi and Kiryandongo, has 43 forests reserves. The acting NFA Budongo system range manager, Mr Patrick Kakeeto, said the region has over 180,000 hectares of reserves. “Most of these reserves have been encroached on but the most affected are in Kibaale District,” Mr Kakeeto said.

Historical forests such as Bugoma and Budongo have also been encroached on. Environmentalists have also confirmed the encroachment on Wambabya and Bujaawe forests in Hoima as well as Kangombe, Ruzaire, Kanaga, Nyabiku and Kijuna forests in Kibaale district.
Mr Kakeeto said the encroachers at times burn the natural forests and the plantations of licensed private tree developers. He revealed that environmental experts have calculated and discovered that Bunyoro loses over 80,000 hectares in deforestation annually.

The depletion of forests is reportedly threatening a multi-billion shillings hydro power dam, which is being constructed at Wambabya River in Buseruka sub-county of Hoima district.
The Hoima district senior environment officer, Ms Joselyn Nyangoma, said some encroachers are destroying the catchment area of the river which is supplying water to the power dam.
“The silting of the river is likely to reduce volumes of water in Wambabya River,” Ms Nyangoma said. Her office has intensified sensitisation outreaches in communities as one of the efforts to curb deforestation.

Mr Kakeeto said the national Forestry Authority (NFA) has teamed up with other environmentalists and other government agencies to sensitise the public on the value of sustainable environmental management. They offer seedlings to the community in a bid to increase the forest cover in the region.
“We offer over 150,000 (tree) seedlings to individuals and institutions per year,” Mr Kakeeto said.

Benefits of forests
The mid western region is however still enjoying some benefits of forest cover. Bunyoro sub-region enjoys a bi-modal rainfall type which varies between 1,000 mm -1,500 mm per annum which environmental experts describe as moderate to high rainfall.

Rainfall comes in two peaks, one from March to May and the second from September to December. Kibaale District, which has a reported high rate of deforestation has 18 forest reserves. Of these, 15 natural forests cover 25,503 hectares and three plantation forests, Busana, Kakumiro and Kagadi which belong to Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom with a total area of 37 hectares.

The forests in this mid western region have been under increasing threat from growing commercial demands and from rural communities whose high levels of poverty make them dependent on forest resources for their livelihood.

These pressures on the forest resources, coupled with weak conservation agencies at decentralised levels, limited implementation of collaborative forest management strategies with local people, have led to considerable loss of forest cover, especially on private and public land. Some civil societies are sourcing for funding to generate additional and sustainable finance for biodiversity conservation that provides incentives to local communities for conserving biodiversity found in remaining forests.

Bunyoro is endowed with the Albertine Rift Eco-Region, an important forest system in Uganda for biodiversity. The Albertine rift area forms part of the northern corridor for chimpanzees and is home to some of Uganda’s largest chimpanzee populations living outside the protected areas. “Clearing of forests for cash crops such as tobacco and rice in this area is threatening the survival of these chimpanzee populations and risks isolating the populations in the Budongo and Bugoma reserves, thus halting natural inter-breeding across different populations,” Paul Hatanga, the conservation manager at the Chimpanzee Wildlife Conservation Trust, said.

These forests are vital in climate modification, acting as catchment areas for rivers, being habitats for several wild creatures and being sources of herbs and traditional medicine. But these significant values are drastically reducing as the forest cover continues to be cleared.