NFA lists three strategies to revamp forest cover
A woman pictured watering a tree nursery at NFA seed center. PHOTO/ JULIET KIGONGO
What you need to know:
- Appointed in April this year, the NFA board has since embarked on developing a five-year strategy to revamp the forestry body because the forest cover reduced from 30 percent to 9 percent.
The National Forestry Authority (NFA) has unveiled a five-year strategic plan to revamp the country’s forest cover.
The authority’s board chairman, Christopher Ebal said that the strategy seeks to restore the country’s ecosystem that has been depleted by human behaviors for years.
Under the strategy, Eng Ebal said they will focus on sustainable management of central forest reserves by strengthening the forest protection and conservation efforts.
“People are busy cutting trees and we are saying do not cut any trees. If you are cutting, plant 10 more. We are conserving the environment and we are saying where trees have been degraded, we have to plant more,” he said while unveiling the three point programme at the NFA Seed Center in Namanve, Wakiso District.
According to him, the Authority intends to develop and promote stakeholder partnership in line with gender and equity principles in sustainable management of forests reserves.
“We are also looking at equitable production and supply of forest products and services through use of appropriate technology and innovative approaches,” Eng Ebal said..
He added: “We are also diversifying and increasing the quality and economic value of forest based businesses, increasing the area and productivity of plantations and to increase the supply of seeds and seedlings. People have been planting seeds everywhere, but here we have quality seeds and a laboratory for testing the seeds.”
Another strategy involves the board working to ensure sustainability of NFA because the forestry authority is a growing concern since the country cannot do away with the forest.
He said they intend to build the capacity of personnel, improve innovation and development, encourage modern tree planting, forest management, identify and expand the revenue base as well as governance and accountability.
Appointed in April this year, the NFA board has since embarked on developing a five-year strategy to revamp the forestry body because the forest cover reduced from 30 percent to 9 percent. However, the Authority says the forest cover has now been increased to about 14 percent.
Eng Ebal revealed that NFA is targeting to plant 20 million trees per year making 100 million in the five years in addition to others to be planted by development partners and environment campaigners.
However, Eng Ebal revealed that currently NFA is faced with some challenges, among them illegal land titles where enrcochers are claiming big chunks of forest land which were gazetted several years ago.
“People are encroaching on our boundaries. Forests are everywhere throughout the country. We have to keep stopping people from moving into the forest land. They keep moving in one meter, 1Km and at the end of the day you find a big settlement,” he said.
According to Eng Ebal, NFA is currently working towards demarcating and ensuring that all the forest land has proper boundaries and that this process has already started.
Ms Tina Achilla, a member of the board said that a gazetting instrument cannot easily be transferred because it must go through Parliament if a degazettement is to occur unlike a land title.
“It is better for the population to respect the forest reserves because they are important to all of us in Uganda and beyond,” she said.
