Plantation forests contributing to ecosystem conservation

The National Forestry Authority (NFA) is mandated to manage 506 central forest reserves in the country, totaling to 1,235,000 hectares. The forests are categorised into conservation and production forests. 

In 2005, after an assessment of the country’s demand for wood products, the NFA realised that the forests available for the production and supply of wood could not sustain supply to a growing population.

Stuart Maniraguha, the acting executive director of NFA, says by 2025, the country will require 1.5 million cubic metres of wood to sustain the internal and external market. This translates into 7,500 hectares of forest cut down annually. 

“We came up with a Plantation Development Strategy focusing on how to improve the output of our production forests through commercial tree planting. The government did not have the resources or the capacity to invest in this exercise so we brought in a number of stakeholders, including the private sector,” he says.

NFA marked 250,000 hectares of the production forests in the country for the Plantation Development Strategy. Of these, 200,000 hectares were licensed to the private sector, while 50,000 were gazetted for government investment.

“People used to hear of companies harvesting mahogany, muvule (milicia excelsa), and musizi (maesopsis eminii) trees. Those were being extracted from the production forests. However, those natural trees grow at a very slow pace. Our country is 88 percent reliant on wood. So, if you do not create an alternative, the few remaining conservation forests will be attacked for timber,” Maniraguha adds. 

Players from the private sector, such as the New Forests Company (NFC) have been licensed to provide an alternative that is now reducing the pressure on conservation forests, by developing commercial forest plantations in central forest reserves. 

Sustainable forestry 
The NFC has three forest plantations – Luwunga plantation planted around Luwunga central forest reserve in Kiboga district, Namwasa plantation planted around Namwasa central forest reserve in Mityana and Mubende districts, and Kirinya plantation forest leased from a private land owner in Bugiri district.

The company opened its Ugandan operations in 2005 with a license from NFA, which demarcated the boundaries of the central forest reserves and provided guidelines and approval of its forest management plans. 

Jephat Zvehama, the company’s forestry manager, says the central forest reserves are left untouched so that they can regenerate naturally.

“Our three forest plantations total 22,000 hectares. Of these, 60 percent are planted with the commercial species of eucalyptus and pine, while 40 percent constitute the conservation area, in which the central forest reserves are located,” he says.

The eucalyptus planted is of the pure grandis species (eucalyptus grandis and GU – which is a hybrid of eucalyptus grandis and eucalyptus urophylla species). Uganda’s tropical climate ensures that the trees grow quickly, with some growing to 30 metres in ten years. The pine planted is of the pinus caribaea species (Caribbean pine).

John Mary Kisembo, NFC’s sustainability program manager, says timber production must ensure a balance between the economic benefits and the environmental services of forests.

“The importance of these conservation areas is for biodiversity protection and to maintain a balanced ecosystem. All forms of life in the ecosystem need to be given a chance to subsist,” he explains.

Because of their dense wood, eucalyptus trees are efficient in capturing carbon dioxide and storing it in their biomass, making them valuable in combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. On the other hand, pine trees have been known to absorb five to ten times more carbon than a natural forest over the same period. 

The pine trees are harvested at 15 years, while the eucalyptus is harvested at seven years. 

NFC does not employ guards for its plantations because responsible forest management means improving the livelihoods of the communities living near the forest. Wellington Chirinda, NFC’s country managing director, says currently, the three plantations employ about 500 workers, most of whom have been mobilised from the community. 

“Guarding the forests can be a challenge. However, we have initiatives in place to address the social challenges in the areas where we operate. Some of these include an out grower’s programme and a forestry for prosperity programme,” he says. 

The forests for prosperity groups in the communities are made up of residents in different parishes neighbouring the plantation forests. These major stakeholders in forest management are the company’s ears and eyes on the ground. 

This is the most effective way to manage risks on commercial plantations and it also serves as a source of income for the groups. 

“We partner with the four parishes that touch the forest’s boundaries in risk mitigation. Such risks include fire outbreaks and illegal grazing in the plantation forest, and charcoal burning, illegal logging and setting up of gardens in the central forest reserve,” says Eswell Mukwaya, the plantation manager of NFC’s Kirinya Forest.

The 3,400-hectare forest, which is found on the shores of Lake Victoria, contains both seasonal and permanent wetlands.

“It is very important that we manage those wetlands systems to maintain the integrity of the lake, which is important to the livelihoods of the community. The forestry for prosperity groups also help to uproot the lantana invasive species in the conservation area. Lantana are weeds that have been known to colonise native species and wipe out entire forests,” Mukwaya adds.

NFC has an annual scorecard on which the groups measure their performance in risk mitigation and every year, they are paid depending on how they score. 

“For instance, if a group did not have fires in the portion of forest in its area, the score is 100 percent, which matches with a specific amount of Shs10 million. If the group scores 70 percent, it receives Shs7 million,” Mukwaya says.

Forests for prosperity 
The members of the forestry for prosperity groups were once encroachers in the central forest reserves before the latter were licensed to commercial forestry companies.

Steven Muwanguzi, the treasurer of Babutonde Bwansi Mixed Farmers Group in Kiboga district, says a number of villagers had grabbed plots in Luwunga central forest reserve for agricultural purposes. 

“I had a 15-acre plantation of coffee, maize, and beans inside the forest. I bought the land from a neighbor because we were convinced that forest soil is more fertile than ordinary soil. However, we were evicted when NFA licensed NFC to manage the forest. We were angry because we did not have enough land in the village,” he says.  

To maintain the integrity of the central forest reserves, NFC moved to train the communities on how they could engage in crop and animal farming on small pieces of land. The trainings were usually carried out in partnership with district production departments. 

The groups were also given commercial tree seedlings to grow woodlots on their own individual land to discourage encroachment on the natural forests. Today, Muwanguzi has a three-acre woodlot of eucalyptus from which he hopes to reap in five years.

Gradually, the capacity building training grew to include financial literacy and savings and loan schemes. The groups are also given beehives and goats for income generation.  

“Our group was launched in 2019, and today, we share the money we get from the scorecards for risk mitigation. Sometimes, at the end of the year, each member can buy a cow or a pig. Next year, though, we plan to use the funds to start a joint project,” Muwanguzi adds. 

Babutonde Bwansi Mixed Farmer’s Group is worth Shs28.7 million in savings. Of this amount, Shs 16.5 million is in member shares, while Shs12.2 million was earned from NFC. 

With banks willing to lend it money, Joseph Byansi, the chairperson of the group, says the members want to build a petrol station in Kyabasiita town. All they need is the technical knowledge on how to manage a company dealing in fuel. 

“Recently, we bought maize worth Shs5 million and gave it out as loans to members at an interest of two percent. From my share of the proceeds, I have managed to maintain a two-acre farm of maize and coffee, educate my children, open a shop, and buy a motorcycle to ease my movements,” he says. 

The Kisiita Development Group in Mbirizi sub-county, Kasanda district, is charged with mitigating risks in Namwasa forest plantation, which includes Namwasa central forest reserve. 

Julius Mbabazi, the chairperson of the group, says when the residents were asked to leave the forests, they came together in 2018 and signed a contract with NFC to guard the forest.

“If a villager wants to carry out bush burning before the planting season, he or she has to inform the company office in the forest. The officials will guide on how to do it, to mitigate risks to the forest. This is because it is better to burn bushes early in the morning or late in the evening,” he says.

Mbabazi confirms that after receiving capacity building training and tree seedlings from the company, most members in the group own woodlots. NFC also allocates firewood for cooking during village functions. The firewood is deadwood picked off the floor of the natural forest.

“We now receive more rainfall than before and have clean air because of the rejuvenated natural forest. The commercial trees also prevent heavy winds from destroying our crops and property in the rainy season,” he adds. 

Kisiita Development Group is worth over Shs51 million; owning 120 goats, 14 cows, two plots of land, a kibanja estimated at Shs85million, water tanks, and tents.

Other groups, especially near the Kirinya forest plantation, also maintain fish cages in Lake Victoria from the money they earn from the NFC scorecards.

Patrick Musasizi, the head of the Natural Resources Department of Kiboga district in which the 9,300-hectare Luwunga forest plantation lies, commends NFA’s plantation development strategy as a win-win situation. The district has six central forest reserves, five of which have been licensed to private firms for commercial tree planting. 

“Private firms like NFC offer employment to our people and in turn, the sub-county local governments earn local service tax. As a district, we come in when the company is harvesting timber. We charge every truck moving out of the forest Shs10,000. If the company has sold a concession to a private entity, we charge that entity Shs20,000 per truck,” he says. 

NFC is also involved in periodic maintenance of the sub-county roads on which their trucks pass and has constructed schools, classroom blocks, and health centres to benefit communities living near its forest plantations. 

Some of these include Bilton Forest High School in Buliida sub-county, Bugiri district and Namwasa Medical Centre in Mityana district.

“Before the school was established 11 years ago, there was no secondary school in Buliida sub-county and the neighbouring Budaya sub-county. This had resulted in a high school dropout and illiteracy rate,” George Kintu, the head teacher of Bilton Forest High School explains. 

The school, which was handed over to the government in 2015 now has 1,251 learners. On the other hand, Nyamwasa Medical Centre, a private facility, manages the immediate health conditions of the forest community.

“We are at the level of a health centre III and we carry out minor surgeries and safe male circumcision. Because we are a private facility, residents pay Shs5,000 in consultation fees,” says Livingstone Matovu, the facility in-charge.  

Navigating the presidential ban 
In 2023, President Yoweri Museveni issued a ban on the unsustainable harvesting of trees for timber and veneer exports. He directed that only factories processing timber within the country for production of plywood, furniture, and other value-added products, should be allowed to operate if they had sustainable tree planting and harvesting plans.

Chirinda says poor implementation of the presidential ban affected the company’s operations. 

“There is nothing wrong with the ban because it is trying to address the issue of sustainability. NFC meets the criteria of sustainability because we have harvesting and replanting plans. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has certified our timber. We did not expect the ban to affect commercial forestry companies. But unfortunately, it did. It became a blanket ban,” he says. 

He adds that the company suffered because the implementers of the ban did not take the time to understand NFA guidelines under which commercial forestry companies operate. 

“We are working with the government to reconsider the ban on companies that are running their own plantations, harvesting their own trees, and processing their own timber and selling it, and replanting trees, like NFC. We have made some progress, although it is not significant enough to say we have been left alone,” Chirinda explains. 

The challenge is in the definition of value addition to harvested timber. Ideally, value addition – or converting timber into manufactured products – should be able to increase financial returns, create jobs, and support forest communities.  

“For us, value addition means doing some processing to give life to the harvested timber. The implementers of the presidential ban classified sawn timber as non-value added yet we process and kiln-dry it. That is value addition. However, we are still involved in intense discussions with them,” Chirinda adds.

Kiln-dried timber is wood that has been dried in a kiln to reduce its moisture content. Through its pole plant and sawmill, NFC is allowed to export transmission poles and pallets. 

A call to plant trees
Over the years, some private players licensed to develop commercial forest plantations have abused the government’s trust by going beyond the limits of their licenses. 

“All a licensed company has to do is to conserve the fragile ecosystem of the natural forest. By maintaining the ecological functioning of the forest, the company is able to get international certification on responsible forest management that will allow its products onto the market,” Maniraguha advises.

He adds that improving Uganda’s forest cover is not the sole responsibility of NFA, but of every citizen because the effects of climate change do not differentiate whether one works for the Authority or not. 

“We raise awareness about growing trees to improve our agricultural production, because trees give us rain and cool down the high temperatures. Every year, NFA gives out 20 million tree seedlings to the public at no cost,” Maniraguha says. 

NFA is also embarking on a strategy to influence every landowner and local government to plant trees, not only for commercial purposes but also for agroforestry. 

“Reforestation is not moving at the pace we want because the growing population needs to open land for agriculture. That is why of late, our forest cover has stagnated at 12.4 percent, yet our desire is to increase it to 24 percent,” Maniraguha stresses. 

Threats to reforestation include issuing of illegal land titles in forest reserves by those responsible for the country’s land administration. 

Maniraguha encourages Ugandans to engage in tree planting both for financial and biodiversity purposes on the free land they own, instead of letting it be captured by squatters.  

Commercial forest plantations, like the ones set up by NFC, are not only a collaborative approach to sustainable forest management, but they also help Uganda meet its targets on the reduction of carbon emissions.

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