Boat-making tree faces extinction

SUNDAY VISION

Until World Environment Day, June 5, in a campaign, Save Lake Victoria, Vision Group media platforms is running investigative articles, programmes and commentaries highlighting the irresponsible human activities threatening Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh water lake. Today, we bring you the story of how a tree known to thrive on the lakeshore and used for boat making is under threat of extinction.

By Gerald Tenywa

Ssalongo Ssebugwawo is married to the boat. As the rest of the fishmongers at Ggaba are haggling over prices for their fish, Ssebugwawo’s gifted hands turn panels of wood into boats.

For the last 35 years, Ssalongo has been helping people stay afloat as they fish and move between Kampala and the islands in Lake Victoria. But Ssebugwawo is worried that his illustrious career might end with the depletion of a species of trees for making boats.

The most precious tree, according to Ssalongo, is Cordia melenii also known as mukebo. Unlike many other species of trees, mukebu, he says, is light, not porous and does not easily rot.

“It is now very rare to get this tree in Uganda,” says Ssebugwawo, adding: “Boat makers have to rely on imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).”

In his three-decade career, Ssebugwawo says, the tree became rare around the lake about a decade ago. It is now found in a few protected areas, particularly in western Uganda, but this is not readily accessible because of strict regulations governing forests. Hence, dealers in timber have to move further across the border, into DRC.

Over-harvesting of trees to feed the boat making industry is behind the disappearance of mukebo, according to Stephen Galima, the lakeshore range manager for the National Forestry Authority (NFA).

In addition, the conversion of forests into farmland and the indiscriminate cutting of trees for firewood and charcoal are to blame for the disappearance of the boat making tree species.

“It is a tree that used to be common in the lakeshore areas,” says Galima, adding that it also grows in the highland areas. “The massive clearance of land for farming and indiscriminate cutting of trees for fuel wood is leading to depletion of the trees. Whatever is cut down is not replaced.”

Over the years, change of land use along the lake shores and the islands is replacing the natural vegetation into farmland, exposing the soil to erosion and resulting into siltation of the lake.

Boat making becoming expensive

Because of the increasing timber prices, making boats is becoming an expensive enterprise.

Ssebugwawo says: “The prices for most boats have doubled. In the last 10 years, the cost of materials has been rising.”

He adds: “The only sure source of timber for making boats is the DRC. If it is exhausted, it will be a blow because the factory fibre boats cost millions of shillings.”

At Ssebugwawo’s place, the smallest boat goes for sh400,000, followed by a bigger boat that goes for sh900,000. The largest costs up to sh3m.

Other trees facing extinction

Apart from mukebu, other tree species on the lakeshore areas also face extinction, according to Galima. He cites muvule, nkalati, nongo and prunus Africa, a tree that is used to treat prostate cancer.

He adds that some of the trees can no longer regenerate in the wild because there are no mother trees.

This, according to Galima, means the trees have to be nurtured in a nursery and later re-introduced into the wild.

“We are raising the trees for replanting in the forests and farmland,” Galima says, adding that it is being nurtured at Nandagi and Kalangala, with the support of the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF).

The boat making tree is responding well and needs about 15-20 years to mature.

“Planting is catching fire, especially among the lake communities, that is why we have established a tree nursery at Kalangala,” says Galima.

He says people still lack the science and art of planting some of the tree species that are disappearing. He says environmental bodies particularly have to take part in nurturing the trees and replanting, but they are constrained by resources.

Uganda needs luxury vessels

Martin Jjuko, the communication and development officer at the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), says Uganda is still lagging behind Tanzania and Kenya in the construction of boats.

“Uganda has a few wooden boat builders working alone,” he says, adding that Mwanza in Tanzania has a factory for making and repairing water vessels. Water transport in Tanzania and Kenya is much more developed than Uganda.”

As a way of harnessing the growing interest in tourism and trade on the lake, local artisans like Ssebugwawo need to be more skilled in making luxury water vessels.

But this also means increased demand for raw materials such mukebu. The private sector needs to be more engaged in planting indigenous trees such as mukebo.

For now, what matters, is for Ssebugwawo to secure timber for income. But cutting trees without replacement is not sustainable.

The boat builders will not only run out of timber, but silting of the lake will escalate and endanger fisheries, affecting those who rely on fishing as a livelihood.

Role of boats in history

Not only has this tree helped fishermen, it also helped trade to flourish. The early kingdoms of Buganda had a strong navy (empingu) on the lake. Busoga Kingdom also engaged in naval military over the lake.

This, according to Ssebugwawo, was made possible by the prowess of the mukebu tree species.

While a large water body like Lake Victoria could be seen as a barrier to development, the use of the lake for trade and naval warfare by Ssebugwawo’s forefathers is an eye opener that it could be used for development and prosperity.

Water is the cheapest form of transport, but Uganda has been getting more of its goods from the water and the railway to the road, increasing the cost of doing business in Uganda.