By Joyce Namutebi and Cyprian Musoke

UGANDA loses millions of tonnes of fertile soils to lower Nile riparian countries of Sudan and Egypt through erosion, Parliament has heard.

Environment state minister Jessica Eriyo said this on Thursday.

Quoting the National Forestry Authority National Biomass Study Report 2007, Eriyo also said Uganda’s forests had been depleted at a rate of 92,000 hectares annually from 1990 to 2005.

She noted that the forest cover had reduced from over 4.9 million hectares to 3.5 million hectares.

Eriyo explained that her ministry is faced with the challenges of a growing population in its fight against deforestation. She noted that unless the country had a good land use policy, it would be difficult to control deforestation.

Eriyo said forests contributed about $546.6m annually to the economy.