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Uganda Loses 26 Pct Forest Cover, Launching Tree Planting Campaign

Posted on: Saturday, 25 March 2006, 09:00 CST

Uganda loses 26 pct forest cover, launching tree planting campaign

KAMPALA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has embarked on a campaign to plant trees in the eastern district, following a report showed the country is losing two percent annually of its forest, local media reported Friday.

National Forestry authority (NFA) launched the campaign to plant more trees in the South Busoga forest reserve in Mayuge, east of Uganda, which had been encroached on by residents.

"This rainy season the residents will plant at least 252,000 pine trees on 180 hectares. It is a task they have willingly offered to do after being sensitized," said Godfrey Acaye, the NFA law enforcement specialist in charge of encroachment.

He said timber-producing trees such as pines were being emphasized, adding that there was a likely shortage of its supply in future.

Uganda has lost 26 percent of its forest cover in the last two decades, said a report released last month by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Paul Drichi, the biomes inventory coordinator under the NFA, said the country's forest cover was receding at a rate of 2 percent annually.

Drichi said Uganda's forest coverage is estimated at 24 percent of the land cover and is likely to decline with increasing population that relies on agriculture for survival, which may lead to further deforestation, forest degradation and fuel wood scarcities.

Jerome Baryayanga, the outgoing south-eastern regional Police commander, cautioned residents against environmental destruction.

In the Global Forest Resources Assessment Report, FAO said the forest coverage had reduced from 4,924 million hectares in 1990 to 3,627 million in 2005.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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