Mukono leaders renew campaign to restore depleted Namyoya forest
Tree cutting and charcoal burning activities at Namyoya Central Forest. PHOTO | IVAN SSENABULYA
What you need to know:
- The campaign comes after the Ministry of Water and Environment rejected a proposal by Mukono District Council to degazette Namyoya and Kifu forest reserves.
A section of leaders in Mukono District has embarked on a campaign to restore the degraded section of Namyoya Central Forest Reserve.
The campaign comes after the Ministry of Water and Environment rejected a proposal by Mukono District Council to degazette Namyoya and Kifu forest reserves.
A section of local leaders insists that Mukono is losing its natural forests at an alarming rate and they cannot accept the remaining few to be destroyed.
The district council had asked the government to degazette both forests arguing that the population is increasing and, therefore, need more land for settlement and development.
But the government argued that the request lacked merit since it meant that forests and trees must be cleared for every infrastructural development yet in many countries with the highest population, forest cover continues to increase.
It is against this background that a group of councillors from Mukono Central Division Council led by their speaker Mr Allan Mawanda, have started mobilising the locals to restore Namyoya first and later Kifu.
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According to Mr Mawanda, they are going to mobilize indigenous tree seedlings from well-wishers to replace the already cut down trees.
“We have given ourselves 10 days as a team to collect trees from whoever supports this noble cause. On March 15, 2022, we will kick off the re-afforestation exercise,” he said.
Mawanda expressed concerns that people have encroached on the Namyoya forest and some are already constructing houses despite the ministry’s refusal to degazzate the natural forest.
The controversial forest has since divided leaders in Mukono District at different levels of authority. Mukono Municipality legislator Ms Betty Nambooze, a prominent opposition leader is among those popularising the move to degazzate the reserve forest.
“I have spent 10 years guarding this forest, This time we don’t want to totally clear the forest, but we want a quarter of it for development and continue protecting the other part jealously,” she argues.
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Mr Mike Ssegawa, a councillor representing Ngandu-Kigombya at Mukono municipal council said a special committee was instituted to investigate allegations of encroachment.
“We demand a report to inform our decision whether to support the move to degazzate the two forests or not,” Mr Ssegawa said.
Mr Ssegawa said if the government is in need of land to erect a satellite city, they should utilise the more than 2,000 acres of free land in Kyesereka and Papati villages rather than cutting down the forest.
Namyoya Forest Reserve, which stretches in the sub-counties of Kyampisi, Nama and Goma Division, initially measured 900 hectares, but has in the past two decades been encroached on, with less than 400 hectares left intact.
Worldwide, forests are instrumental in shaping the environment, especially through rainfall formation. They are also key in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees also have significant medicinal value.
