Musaijamukuru, a Runyoro word meaning “old man” is one of the tallest hills in Bunyoro and historians have it that it’s one of the strategic hills where Omukama Kabalega and his men used to hide while fighting the colonialists in Bunyoro.

Located in Kiziranfumbi town council in Kikuube district, it is currently one of the model hills which have been preserved and is the base of Prof. Fred Babwetera, a Makerere University dean of the school of environmental studies, who has come out to support the communities to replant trees and conserve the environment.

Over the years, several natural trees in Kikuube district have been cut down as charcoal-burning activities have been on the increase.

A huge chunk of trees has also been cut down for sugarcane growing in one of the biggest natural forests in the Bugoma forest reserve, which was leased to Hoima sugar limited, which is using part of the forest for sugarcane planting.

Hoima limited leased close to 22 square miles of the contested Bugoma forest reserve land from BunyoroKitara kingdom for sugarcane growing for 99 years and cut down the natural trees in the forest.

However, the National Environment Management Authority, during its assessment, discovered that 13 out of the 22 square miles leased to the company were not suitable for sugarcane planting and recommended that the company should immediately restore the land since it was a wetland.

In several other communities, trees are being cut down for human settlement and other human activities which has left most of the hills bare.

Babwetera is a resident of Musaijamukuru in Kiziranfumbi town council in the Kikuube district and he has been involved in community mobilisation and distribution of tree seedlings to communities to plant.

“When I realised that most of the natural trees have been cut down, I started community mobilisation and I would engage institutions, such as schools and churches, and would provide them with natural and fruit trees from which they earn some money without cutting them down,” Babwetera says.

He says he also teaches members of the communities how to plant and care for the trees which they are given.

Recently, over 2,000 trees were planted by the communities of Musaijamukuru Hill and the distribution took place at Musaijamukuru Primary School.

What leaders say 

Peter Banura, the Kikuube district LC5 chairperson, says the district council has been encouraging schools and other government institutions with big land to plant trees.

“We are happy that Prof. Babwetera has already started leading the efforts and we shall support him, he is already working with the communities and giving the seedlings which they are planting,” Banura says.

He says they are also discouraging people from cutting down trees for charcoal since it is exposing them to the risks of global warming.

Joyce Kabaseke, a community leader in Kiziranfumbi, says with the efforts of Babwetera, they are conserving natural forests.

“We have all embraced his idea and whenever we have challenges with trees, we approach him because we know his passion for the environment,” Kabaseke says.

Youth involvement

As the Kikuube district experiences an unprecedented wave of environmental destruction, the youth have come out to supplement the efforts of environmental campaigners to salvage the natural forests from the destroyers.

Anxious about the way the ecology is being degraded, the youths fear what the future will be if, especially leaders, simply speak without implementing.

The destruction of the environment in Kikuube for timber harvesting, charcoal burning and arable farming has raised the eyebrows of the youth who have now mobilised themselves into a Civil Society Organisation to contribute towards averting the ostensibly changing weather patterns.

Under the Kikuube Youth Network, the youth are concerned that besides the destruction of the Bugoma forest, environmentally-insensitive people have encroached on swamps and have eaten into banks of rivers Wambabya and Nguse.

The Executive Director of Kikuube Youth Network, Simon Tumwesige, says as Ugandans take to the Western design of celebrating birthdays, it would be of great importance if they planted a tree on such an occasion.

He added that with the 47 million people in Uganda, each celebrating their birthday and planting a tree, it would thrust Uganda’s tree population to 47 million per year, thus, guarding against climate change.

Promoting climate-smart agriculture 

Justus Mwesige, a teacher at Musaijamukuru Primary School, says there was a need for the district agricultural department to start promoting climate-smart agriculture as one way of boosting agriculture and the environment.

“People should be discouraged from cutting down huge chunks of forests for agriculture, they should instead be advised on how to use them and earn more money.”

He says several wetlands in the district have been destroyed by the people seeking land for agriculture and yet they can use them for fish farming and they earn money.

“Environmental degraders are enemies of Uganda. This means once the environment is degraded, there will be no more agriculture and poverty will strike Ugandans since the country is an agricultural economy.”

Challenges faced

Some of the people who take the trees don’t plant and that has resulted in losses. “People fight for the trees, but they don’t plant them, or when they plant they don’t care about them and that is one of the biggest problems we have faced,” Fred Businge, a resident of Buhimba, says.

He says another problem is that some people have failed to turn to clean energy use and they still rely on wood for cooking.

“We have been encouraging our people to use energy-saving stoves so that they can minimise on the trees they cut down but most of them have not adhered,” he added.