Don’t condone forest encroachers
Jun 24, 2007
The escalating encroachment on the forest reserves and national parks was among the issues of concern that investors and international experts raised when they held discussions with President Yoweri Museveni during the Presidential Investors Round Table.
The escalating encroachment on the forest reserves and national parks was among the issues of concern that investors and international experts raised when they held discussions with President Yoweri Museveni during the Presidential Investors Round Table.
The meeting is held annually to discuss measures that need to be taken to improve the country’s investment climate.
Museveni, reacting to the concern by the investors, stated that the National Forestry Authority (NFA) was not in position to handle the problem. It is the politicians, in his view, who know how to handle the encroachments.
It is not surprising that investors are concerned about the state of Uganda's forest reserves and national parks. A month ago, The New Vision reported that two forest reserves had been wiped out by encroachers and illegal loggers.
Uganda’s forests are disappearing at an alarming rate of 2% per year, the highest in the world, according to official studies. Six thousand hectares of trees are being cut down every month. At this pace, Uganda’s forests will have gone in 50 years. Seventy per cent of the 506 forest reserves in the country are at risk of destruction.
The number of people building houses, farming and grazing their livestock in the protected forests went up from 180,000 to 220,000 between 2005 and 2006, an increase of 23%.
Experience has shown that a fight against the forest and national parks encroachments cannot be successful without the support of the political leaders at all levels. The NFA and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) have often failed to evict encroachers from forest reserves and national parks, respectively, mainly due to lack of support from the area political leaders. The political leaders, for obvious reasons, have tended to condone or encourage encroachments.
Political leaders should lead the campaign to protect forest reserves and national parks. They should work hand in hand with the NFA and the UWA in this fight. They must not politicise eviction of encroachers from forest reserves and national parks. The encroachers pose a real threat to the environment and the wellbeing of the present and future generations.
The meeting is held annually to discuss measures that need to be taken to improve the country’s investment climate.
Museveni, reacting to the concern by the investors, stated that the National Forestry Authority (NFA) was not in position to handle the problem. It is the politicians, in his view, who know how to handle the encroachments.
It is not surprising that investors are concerned about the state of Uganda's forest reserves and national parks. A month ago, The New Vision reported that two forest reserves had been wiped out by encroachers and illegal loggers.
Uganda’s forests are disappearing at an alarming rate of 2% per year, the highest in the world, according to official studies. Six thousand hectares of trees are being cut down every month. At this pace, Uganda’s forests will have gone in 50 years. Seventy per cent of the 506 forest reserves in the country are at risk of destruction.
The number of people building houses, farming and grazing their livestock in the protected forests went up from 180,000 to 220,000 between 2005 and 2006, an increase of 23%.
Experience has shown that a fight against the forest and national parks encroachments cannot be successful without the support of the political leaders at all levels. The NFA and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) have often failed to evict encroachers from forest reserves and national parks, respectively, mainly due to lack of support from the area political leaders. The political leaders, for obvious reasons, have tended to condone or encourage encroachments.
Political leaders should lead the campaign to protect forest reserves and national parks. They should work hand in hand with the NFA and the UWA in this fight. They must not politicise eviction of encroachers from forest reserves and national parks. The encroachers pose a real threat to the environment and the wellbeing of the present and future generations.