Det østafrikanske land mister 80.000 hektar skov hvert år og regeringen i Kampala har ingen politik til at imødegå ødelæggelserne af miljøet i nationen, der engang blev kaldt “Afrikas Perle”.
GULU, 7 February 2012 (IRIN): Once a fortnight, Moses Sserwada travels from the capital, Kampala, to northern Uganda to pick up a truckload of charcoal destined for the popular Owino market in the city.
“I have been in this trade for three years; we get our supply from northern Uganda because the charcoal produced there is of a good quality and in high demand,” Sserwada told IRIN.
The charcoal trade, referred to as “black gold” by Kampala traders, has become more profitable than the forests where trees are being indiscriminately cut down for charcoal-burning. For the rural population, charcoal trade is an opportunity to earn an income.
According to the National Forest Authority (NFA), more than 73.000 hectares of private forest are cleared every year across the country and even over 7.000 hectares of protected forest reserves are destroyed annually for timber and charcoal.
“People are cutting down trees indiscriminately without thinking of the future,” said Moses Watasa of the NFA.
Watasa said Uganda had no clear policy on charcoal production. “We must encourage planting fast-growing trees like eucalyptus now so that we can be in a position to get timber and charcoal in 10 years,” he said.
Northern Uganda has thick forest cover, comprising both hard and soft wood. Forest growth in the area flourished during the two-decades-long Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict as many locals were displaced from their villages.
Previously, Kampala charcoal traders relied on charcoal from Nakasongola, Hoima, Masindi, Kafu, Luwero areas of eastern Uganda. These have since been depleted of private and community forests.
For instance, Langele village, adjacent to the Murchison Falls National Park in Nwoya district in northern Uganda, known for its beautiful scenery and thick forests, is no more. Locals refer to Langele as a charcoal factory.
“The price of forest depends on its thickness but on average it costs 1,5 million shillings (600 US dollar) for a hectare,” said Otto Oola, a resident of Langele. “Any patch of land here covered with trees is worth a fortune, it can earn you millions of shillings any time,” noted he.
Poverty
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