Encroachers defy NFA orders to quit forests
School children walk through a degraded section. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Trespass. The encroachers have cleared the forest for cultivation and also set up a trading centre.
Kibaale.
Thousands of encroachers on the central forest reserves in Kibaale District have refused to vacate.
The National Forestry Authority (NFA) Kagadi Sector manager, Mr Charles Ariani, said majority of the 16 forest reserves in Kibaale have been encroached upon.
“We have engaged them to vacate the forests voluntarily but they keep bringing up excuses to enable them prolong their illegal stay,” Mr Ariani said.
He said the worst affected areas are Kangombe and Ruzaire forests.
NFA officials and environmental journalists visited selected forests that have been encroached on.
“We are your friends. We do not hate you. We are simply exercising our mandate to protect central forest reserves. We appeal to you to vacate with immediate effect,” Mr Ariani told encroachers on Ruzaire Forest Reserve this week.
The encroachers have cleared the forest for cultivation and also set up a trading centre.
The councillor representing Kabamba Sub-county in the district council, Mr Jamada Magezi, said the encroachers had petitioned Kibaale District administration to degazette the forest for human settlement.
“The district council does not have powers to degazette the forest. We recommended that they petition Parliament,” he told the encroachers at Kabamba Trading Centre on Tuesday. Encroachers on Kangombe Forest Reserve initially fled when they saw NFA vehicles arriving.
Meeting encroachers
But they later regrouped in the trading centre in Nyamarunda Sub-county where NFA officials spoke to them.
“Some of us got approval from government officials before we settled here. Others have land offers. Now NFA is telling us to vacate. Where do we go?” asked Mr Farouk Bukenya, the spokesperson for the encroachers.
He said the residents would vacate the forest if NFA reviews the boundaries to prove encroachment.
“But even in areas where the boundary is clear, some encroachers have destroyed the forests,” said Mr Ariani.
The forests
Kibaale District has 16 central forest reserves covering 25,511 hectares. They include Nyakarongo, Nyabigoye, Kasato, Rwengeye and Kyamurangi forests.
