Mitigating climate change through forest conservation in Uganda 

By Phionah Mwesige 

Forests play a crucial role in the lives of millions of Ugandans, providing critical ecosystem services including food, water purification, climate change mitigation and livelihoods among others. However, these   ecosystems are disappearing fast. Between 1921 and 2021, the country lost about 41.6 % of its forest cover, including 122,000 ha/year of forest every year from 1990 – 2015. According to the National Forestry Authority, human activities and climate change are some of the major drivers of forest loss in the country. Today, Uganda’s forest cover stands at 18.4% or about 3,627,000 hectares. 

For over two decades, NatureUganda (BirdLife Partner) has been playing a key role in restoring and conserving forests in Uganda. 

“In the past, militaristic interventions didn’t help in forest conservation and therefore, innovative approaches have come into play to restore the country’s degraded forests”, says Jimmy Muheebwa, Director of Conservation and Partnerships at NatureUganda. 

One such innovative approach is collaborative forest management (CFM), a conservation model that requires forest adjacent communities to formally organise in groups which commit to regulate forest use, patrol the forest, and are in turn allowed to benefit from activities within the forest. 

 In 2012, NatureUganda supported the Ministry of Water and Environment in establishing eight CFM   groups in two landscapes of Kasyoha-Kitomi (433 km²) and Echuya (34 km²) Central Forest Reserves (CFRs). In addition, NatureUganda has integrated the CFM approach in various projects including AfriEvolve funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)  through Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), People partner with Nature  through Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (BirdLife Denmark), and Trillion Trees, a partnership between BirdLife International, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). 

In the Echuya,  Ksyosha Kitomi and Mabrira Central Forest Reserves, Nature Uganda is working with total of 20,000 households, this includes 6000 households around Echuya CFR, 9500 households around  Kasyoha Kitomi CFR and 4500 households around Mabira CFR. To date, over 100,000 tree species including nitrogen fixing species such as Grevilea and Calliandra; fruit trees like as avocado, and multipurpose trees like Maesopsis, Mahogany and bamboo have been planted.  

A key aspect of NatureUganda’s interventions includes climate change adaptation. To this end, over 1,750 Energy Saving Stoves have been given to the communities, including 750 stoves constructed with local materials.  

“Since I began using the energy saving stoves, my firewood reduction has gone down by 50%, and the smoke in the kitchen has greatly reduced”, says One Kajoina, a member of Buzenga Environment Conservation Association (BUECA), in the Kasyoha Kitomi CFR. 

According to data by NatureUganda, firewood headloads of 32 kg last for four days for a household of six with no energy saving stove, while the same headload lasts for nine days, for the same size household, using the energy saving stoves.  

Alongside the energy saving stoves, NatureUganda has demonstrated Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) interventions that address the interlinked challenges of food security through boosting productivity and addressing climate change by enhancing community resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions 

Local communities are now practicing sustainable land management practices such as soil erosion control, water retention and agroforestry. NatureUganda is supporting over 2000 farmers with training and good agronomic practices.  

“In the past used to harvest banana bunches weighing about 22kgs. With the training from NatureUganda, my banana bunches now weigh 46kgs, says Gideon Mutasheka, a banana farmer. 

Further, NatureUganda supported the establishment of wine making and bee keeping enterprises and related value chains.  Eight enterprises including four apiculture groups and four wine making groups have been supported in training, provision of production and storage materials, branding and bulking of the products. 

Currently, the four apiculture groups produce a total of 2600 kgs of honey annually, with a kilo of honey costing 10,000 Ugandan Shillings (UGX) (US$ 2.7). Similarly, the four wine making groups are flourishing with one of them, Nyaburare  Women Wine Producers earning over 9,894,841 Ugandan Shillings (UGX) (US $ 2,700) from wine sales. Additionally, these groups have formed Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs) to manage funds from these sales. 

“Our adoption of good farming practices for our banana plantations has greatly improved the quality of wine we produce, boosting our income significantly. Additionally, I harvest honey twice a year, earning approximately UGX 5 million annually, which goes a long way in covering school fees,” notes Venensio Sabiiti, Chairperson of the Buzenga Environmental Conservation Association. 

In Kasyoha Kitomi and Echuya landscapes, Recognize the critical role of schools in confronting the impacts of climate change, NatureUganda is working with three schools in the  Kasyoha Kitomi and Echuya landscapes, to demonstrate climate smart initiatives. About 1,600 school children establish and manage tree nurseries and later distribute seedlings to their parents. They also carry out demonstrations on   how to use energy saving stoves at school and transfer the knowledge for replication at home.  In addition, they support awareness raising of the initiative through song, dance and role play.  

“These interventions are beginning to bear fruit. Recent surveys of canopy cover at Kasyoha Kitomi stood at 96% having risen from a low 70% in 2013. The cardinal role played by the CFMs is very invaluable. Such interventions are worth scaling up and replication if the rate of forest depletion and its attendant consequences are to be managed”, concludes Muheebwa.