Forests on private land may disappear in 15 years

All forests on private land may disappear in the next fifteen years, if urgent reforestation is not done and the country will be plunged into more environmental troubles, a senior ministry of Water and Environment official has warned.

Mr David Mugabi, Assistant Commissioner – Environment Affairs in the said ministry told an inter-ministerial workshop on clean cooking organized by Uganda National Alliance on Clean Cooking (UNACC) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that forest cover on private land will be no more by 2030 and only limited to gazetted areas and game parks.

“Annually, we are losing 120,000 hectares of forest and it is estimated that by 2030, there will be no trees on private estates… We don’t have forests in the future,” Mr Mugabi said yesterday in Kampala, citing ministry projections.

Majority of trees in the country are on private land and according to Mr David Duli, the WWF Uganda country director, should the trees especially natural species extinct, the country will not only face more extreme drought, high temperatures but also famine due to limited rainfall.

“We should do everything to make forests remain. 90 per cent of energy sources used in cooking comes from biomass and if trees are extinct, how will people meet this demand,” Mr Duli, told this paper on the sidelines of the meeting.

Kitgum Woman Member of Parliament, Beatrice Anywar, said Uganda must act now and preserve forests for future generation by subsidizing the costs of improved charcoal stoves which halve the amount of charcoal used by convention stoves but also set policies for mandatory tree planting.

“Government should come up with a policy for all new constructions to have trees in the compounds and clean cooking provisions before local governments can approve their plans,” Ms Anywar, said.

Dr Joshua Mutambi, assistant commissioner Industry in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives said majority of the small scale industries in the country are still reliant on charcoal and wood to meet their energy needs, any shortfalls in this supply will mean high cost of doing business for these industries and even collapse.

Cooking using convention stoves results into indoor pollution which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO),an estimated 4.3 million people die from related diseases like lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, low birth weight and burns, pneumonia, bronchitis and cataracts, .

Of the said 4.3 deaths, Uganda contributes 18,250 deaths annually. This figure, Mr George Mugerwa, an official from the Office of the President, said can be changed if government agencies in this sector can lobby government to prioritize clean cooking.

ptajuba@ug.nationmedia.com