UPDF moves to save depleted Mabira forest reserve

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has joined the drive to restore the depleted part of Mabira forest reserve.
Available records show that Mabira Central Forest Reserve sits on 29,964 hectares on Kampala-Jinja highway. However, part of it has been degraded by illegal loggers and cultivators who have cut trees for timber, charcoal burning and farming.

On Wednesday, students and  staff of Uganda Military Engineering College in Lugazi Municipality, Buikwe District, spent the better part of the day planting new trees in the adversely degraded part of the forest.
Headed by Maj Gen Denis Asiimwe, the commandant of the college, the soldiers planted about 2,000 seedlings of indigenous trees, covering about five acres near Mabira Police Station on the Jinja- Kampala highway. 
The seedlings planted include Maesopsis Emini (Musizzi), Cordia Abyssinica , Aribizia Zygia, and Prunus Africana.
Gen Asiimwe said it’s so sad that the forest is being destroyed by selfish individuals and there are no concerted efforts to save it.

“This forest is about 30,000 hectares but most of this is just in words, the actual forest cover is very less and the remaining part will be no more if nothing is done,” he said.
He said it is a responsibility of every Ugandan to ensure that Mabira Central Forest Reserve and other depleted forests are jealously protected for posterity.
“Some of the planted seedlings are medicinal, such as Prunus Africana, which is a very important remedy for prostate cancer in men. I implore other institutions and individuals to copy what UPDF has done and join this campaign to save Mabira Forest,” Gen Asiimwe added.

He said tree planting in Mabira forest is going to be a routine practice for staff and students of Uganda Military Engineering College until a bigger section of the forest is restored.
Mr Sam Opolot, the officer-in-charge of Mabira Forest Central Reserve, commended UPDF for supporting efforts to save the forest.

“The biggest challenge we are faced with currently is encroachment on the forest land, especially on the boundaries. Some encroachers stay nearby and sneak into the forest when our team is patrolling the other part of the forest,” he said.
Mabira forest is home to rivers that pour water into Lake Victoria and River Nile. 
Because of its rich natural flora and fauna, many tourists frequent it.
In 2007, President Museveni, attempted to give out a section of Mabira to Mehta for sugar growing, but the plan was abandoned after environmentalists and politicians staged demonstrations that resulted in loss of lives.

In 2019, National Forestry Authority (NFA) recovered 40 hectares (124 acres) of Mabira forest that Mehta Group of Companies, the parent company of Sugar Corporation of Uganda Ltd (Scoul ), had turned into a sugar plantation. 
It reportedly took NFA three years in back-and-forth meetings with the sugar maker to reclaim the land, which since been replanted with indigenous trees.

Protecting forest
Efforts
In November 2020, Buikwe Resident District Commissioner Jane Francis Kagaayi intercepted six trucks that were ferrying illegal  timber and firewood  from Mabira and ordered police to apprehend the drivers .