Ugandan Members of Parliament have criticised a plan to clear thousands of hectares of rainforest east of the capital, Kampala, for a sugar plantation, BBC online reports Thursday.
MP Beatrice Atim said that leasing parts of Mabira Forest Reserve to a sugar company was a matter of national concern. The lawmakers were reacting to reports that the government is to seek parliament’s approval for the plan.
Mabira Forest supports more than 300 bird species. According to BirdLife International, Mabira Forest Reserve is the largest block of moist semi-deciduous (halv-løvfældende) forest remaining in the central region of Uganda.
An official from Ugandas National Forestry Authority said the move would be a “disaster”. – The ecosystem will be disturbed, the biodiversity will be destroyed and people’s livelihoods will change for the worse, the official said.
Last year, President Yoweri Museveni ordered a study into the possibility of axing 7.000 hectares of Mabira Forest, nearly a third of the reserve, to expand a nearby sugar estate.
