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Protecting Uganda’s forests: A call to action on World Conservation Day
Uganda has engaged in a broader framework of multiple international and bilateral forestry partnerships such as the EU forestry partnership, the UN REDD+ programme and the newly launched IUCN Forest Landscape Restoration hub to promote the protection, restoration and sustainable management and use of forests.
Protecting Uganda’s forests: A call to action on World Conservation Day
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Olive Atuhaire
World Nature Conservation Day is celebrated annually on July 28, to raise global awareness about protecting our vital natural resources like water, air, soil, and forests. The day emphasises that a healthy environment is the foundation for a stable human society and urges people to adopt sustainable, eco-friendly habits.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, approximately 3.5 million people die each year due to environmental issues, including air and water pollution, deforestation, and climate change-related impacts. Therefore, as we commemorate this World Conservation Day 2026, we must take a step back, reflect on the issues that are mostly impacting our natural resources, such as forests that are increasingly being destroyed by human activities and the urgent need to protect them.
Uganda’s forest cover has dropped to approximately 9% to 12.7% of its total land area, down from 24% in 1990, driven largely by agricultural expansion, illegal logging, infrastructure development, mining activities, and heavy reliance on biomass for energy; the country still loses tens of thousands of hectares of natural forest annually.
Uganda’s forests are among the country’s most valuable natural resources, providing essential ecosystem services including rainfall regulation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, soil protection, water catchment management and livelihoods for millions of people. Forest ecosystems are globally significant biodiversity hotspots and serve as critical habitats for wildlife, including endangered primates and numerous bird species.
Despite their importance, the country continues to experience alarming rates of deforestation and forest degradation. According to NEMA, Uganda’s forest cover has plummeted from 24% in 1990 to 12% today, consumed by the 40 million cubic metres of wood burned for charcoal, representing a loss of nearly half of the country’s forest resources over the last three decades.
The recently released Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA 2025) by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) further indicates that Uganda’s forest area declined from approximately 4.55 million hectares in 1990 to 2.37 million hectares in 2025, translating into a 48% reduction in forest cover. Between 2020 and 2025 alone, Uganda lost an average of 38,000 hectares of forest annually. As forests vanish, the rains falter. Matooke plantations wilt, food insecurity deepens.
This is because the vast majority of Ugandans still rely on charcoal and firewood that is harvested from national forests for cooking. According to the National Census and Population data report, over 94% of Ugandan households rely on traditional wood-fuel biomass for cooking, with 71.9% depending directly on firewood and 23% relying on charcoal. With electricity being prohibitively expensive, only about 4% to 5% of households use modern clean cooking alternatives like electricity, biogas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
Notably, Uganda has engaged in a broader framework of multiple international and bilateral forestry partnerships such as the EU forestry partnership, the UN REDD+ programme and the newly launched IUCN Forest Landscape Restoration hub to promote the protection, restoration and sustainable management and use of forests.
Uganda’s forests are among the country’s most valuable natural resources, providing essential ecosystem services including rainfall regulation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, soil protection, water catchment management and livelihoods for millions of people. Forest ecosystems are globally significant biodiversity hotspots and serve as critical habitats for wildlife, including endangered primates and numerous bird species.
Despite their importance, the country continues to experience alarming rates of deforestation and forest degradation. According to NEMA, Uganda’s forest cover has plummeted from 24% in 1990 to 12% today, consumed by the 40 million cubic metres of wood burned for charcoal, representing a loss of nearly half of the country’s forest resources over the last three decades.
The recently released Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA 2025) by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) further indicates that Uganda’s forest area declined from approximately 4.55 million hectares in 1990 to 2.37 million hectares in 2025, translating into a 48% reduction in forest cover. Between 2020 and 2025 alone, Uganda lost an average of 38,000 hectares of forest annually. As forests vanish, the rains falter. Matooke plantations wilt, food insecurity deepens.
This is because the vast majority of Ugandans still rely on charcoal and firewood that is harvested from national forests for cooking. According to the National Census and Population data report, over 94% of Ugandan households rely on traditional wood-fuel biomass for cooking, with 71.9% depending directly on firewood and 23% relying on charcoal. With electricity being prohibitively expensive, only about 4% to 5% of households use modern clean cooking alternatives like electricity, biogas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
Notably, Uganda has engaged in a broader framework of multiple international and bilateral forestry partnerships such as the EU forestry partnership, the UN REDD+ programme and the newly launched IUCN Forest Landscape Restoration hub to promote the protection, restoration and sustainable management and use of forests.
However, despite these partnerships, forest cover continues to be reduced at a high rate, for example, Bugoma and Mabira forest reserves. New Vision, on July 22, 2026, published a special report titled “Can Mabira forest be saved from relentless destruction?” It is said that some areas of the forest have been cleared by charcoal burners and illegal loggers, and over 250 acres have been destroyed.
Destruction of forests is worsening climate change every day by increasing global temperatures, which affects Uganda’s target of 1.5 degrees. While efforts have been made to restore the forest cover, the power tariffs have not been reduced, which has forced most people, particularly the vulnerable who cannot afford the costs of electricity, to engage in deforestation for charcoal and firewood for cooking, and the population has also not been adequately involved in this restoration process. It is against this background that we address deforestation as a global problem that requires a country’s response as we celebrate World Conservation Day on July 28, 2026.
Coordinated action is required from all stakeholders, including government, local leadership, cultural institutions, civil society, development partners, the private sector, and communities. This can be achieved through the promotion and support of interventions and initiatives such as agroecological farming practices, sustainable land and forest management, restoration of degraded landscapes, strengthening community seed systems, and farmer-managed natural regeneration.
The government also needs to reduce power tariffs, train and educate people on the restoration process and the sustainable use of forest reserves, and manage existing forests sustainably to improve community livelihoods and support income generation. We also need to increase investments in clean energy sources such as improved biogas, briquettes and solar that are more friendly to the environment. The country must also use the funds received appropriately to ensure forest cover is increased up to at least 21% by 2030, as committed in the Memorandum of Understanding on a Forest Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Uganda.
Olive Atuhaire, Environmentalist
atuhaireolivia72.ao@gmail.com
Destruction of forests is worsening climate change every day by increasing global temperatures, which affects Uganda’s target of 1.5 degrees. While efforts have been made to restore the forest cover, the power tariffs have not been reduced, which has forced most people, particularly the vulnerable who cannot afford the costs of electricity, to engage in deforestation for charcoal and firewood for cooking, and the population has also not been adequately involved in this restoration process. It is against this background that we address deforestation as a global problem that requires a country’s response as we celebrate World Conservation Day on July 28, 2026.
Coordinated action is required from all stakeholders, including government, local leadership, cultural institutions, civil society, development partners, the private sector, and communities. This can be achieved through the promotion and support of interventions and initiatives such as agroecological farming practices, sustainable land and forest management, restoration of degraded landscapes, strengthening community seed systems, and farmer-managed natural regeneration.
The government also needs to reduce power tariffs, train and educate people on the restoration process and the sustainable use of forest reserves, and manage existing forests sustainably to improve community livelihoods and support income generation. We also need to increase investments in clean energy sources such as improved biogas, briquettes and solar that are more friendly to the environment. The country must also use the funds received appropriately to ensure forest cover is increased up to at least 21% by 2030, as committed in the Memorandum of Understanding on a Forest Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Uganda.
Olive Atuhaire, Environmentalist
atuhaireolivia72.ao@gmail.com