'Bugoma worth sh200 trillion'
Oct 03, 2020
A private consultant, says that part of the forest covering 5,779ha that has been carved out of the 41,000ha Bugoma forest is equivalent to about 20% of the entire forest.
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Bugoma Central Forest Reserve, which is under threat from sugarcane growers, is worth sh200 trillion, according to a study conducted in 2016.
The study titled Economic valuation of Bugoma indicates that the total value of the forest land, standing stock of trees, poles, timber, carbon sequestration, soil and hydrology as well as prevention of soil erosion and tourism is sh200 trillion per annum.
This, Annette Kandole, a private consultant, says that part of the forest covering 5,779ha that has been carved out of the 41,000ha Bugoma forest is equivalent to about 20% of the entire forest. In terms of money, the part of Bugoma that was given to Hoima Sugar is worth sh40 trillion per year.
Relatedly, households around Bugoma forest save up to sh600,000 because of depending on the forest for fuel (wood), water and herbal medicine, Maxwell Kabi, a co-ordinator of forestry resources utilisation in the National Forestry Authority (NFA) says.
"There are going to be many failures in case part of Bugoma is converted into a sugarcane plantation. Hoima and Kikuube are going to lose a source of energy, electricity, water and food security," Kabi says.
Bunyoro petition
Early this year, a team from Bunyoro Think Tank led by Zacchaeus Mwetegya petitioned the state minister for water and environment, Beatrice Anywar, on the Bugoma give-away. The ministry's permanent secretary, Alfred Okidi, received the petition on behalf of Anywar.
They demanded that the leasehold certificate for the said piece of land by Hoima Sugar Ltd be cancelled immediately since the transaction was shrouded in irregularities and controversies.
In addition, they demanded a probe to be instituted by the Government to establish the circumstances under which Bunyoro kingdom leased out part of Bugoma forest. They say Hoima Sugar leased the land for a paltry sh3b.
But Bunyoro Think Tank says converting part of Bugoma into a sugarcane plantation is ill-advised, given the critical ecological roles it plays.
Background
On August 4, 2016, Bunyoro kingdom entered into a contract with a private investor, Hoima Sugar, and leased out 5779.7ha of land for 99 years as Freehold Register Volume HQT 876 Folio 18, Block (Road) 2, Plot 216 situated at Kyangwali, Buhaguzi, Hoima district (currently in Kikuube district).
The said land forms part of the Bugoma forest landscape, though with registered ownership of Omukama of Bunyoro Kitara kingdom.
Chimp population
The population census for chimps in 2003 put the number at 5,000. The chimps stay in the western arm of the East African Rift Valley. The chimps stay in the large forests such as Budongo, Bugoma, Itwara, Kashoya-Kitomi, Kalinzu as well as Semliki, Rwenzori and Kibaale national parks. The wildlife migratory corridor used to link Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda to the nearby Kibaale National Park and forest reserves near Kyejonjo, including Kagombe, Kibaale, Bugoma and Budongo.