UGANDA

Uganda lost an average of 86,400 ha - or 2.1% - of its forest each year between 2000 and 2005, mostly as a result of subsistence farming and cutting for fuelwood, but increasingly as a result of industrial activities. Only 18% of the land area is currently forested and there is virtually no primary forest remaining. This loss threatens some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in Africa - Uganda has more than 5,000 plant species, 345 mammals, including mountain gorillas, and over 1,000 birds.

A ban was placed on the export of raw timber in 1987; it has never been lifted, but has rarely been enforced. Corruption has been a major obstacle to preventing illegal logging in Uganda. In recent years, district forestry officers, rangers, the police and local government officials are all alleged to have been involved in illegal logging activities. In addition, the army has been accused of illegally logging valuable teak from southern Sudan (where they have been engaged in operations against bases of the Lord's Resistance Army) and transporting it back to Uganda since 2003.

President Yoweri Museveni has also come under fire for attempting to hand over 7,000 ha of a forest reserve to a sugarcane plantation company and to hand over a forest reserve on an island in Lake Victoria to oil palm developers. Both projects were shelved after serious objections were raised, but the sugarcane plantation project has recently been revived and the president has referred to protestors as 'criminals and charlatans'.

Museveni, other politicians and timber dealers have also criticised attempts by the National Forest Authority (NFA) to evict encroachers from protected forests.

The NFA is attempting to clamp down on illegal logging activities, although it only has responsibility for forest reserves; over 70% of forest is in private hands and the NFA only manages 15%. The NFA have recently been working with timber dealers to educate them on conducting their business legally, using timber identification marks and forestry declaration forms, and acting against smugglers who transport timber to neighbouring countries.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
01/05/2009	Forest Governance Learning Group Update May 2009 This 7th Forest Governance Learning Group Update describes activities and their impacts over the last ...	Forest Governance Learning Group
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01/05/2009	Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa: Historical, Legal and Anthropological Perspectives A series of five country studies, plus a broad overview, examining indigenous peoples' land rights ...	Rights & Resources Initiative (RRI)
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01/06/2008	Forest Governance Learning Group Update June 2008 This Update highlights the impacts and plans of the Forest Governance Learning Group in its country-based ...	IIED
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01/02/2008	Forest Products Trade between China and Africa: An Analysis of Imports and Exports Recent media coverage of China's efforts to secure access to natural resources in Africa suggests ...	Forest Trends (Kerstin Canby, James Hewitt, Luke Bailey, Eugenia Katsigris, Sun Xiufang)
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01/09/2007	Forest Governance Learning Group Update September 2007 The latest update report from the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), describing activities over ...	FGLG
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01/04/2007	Forest Governance Learning Group Update April 2007 The latest update report from the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), describing activities over ...	FGLG
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01/04/2004	Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa: Study on Forest Administration and Related Institutional Arrangements This study is a component of a wider initiative jointly undertaken by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture ...	Owino, Prof. F (Forest Resources International, Kenya) & Ndinga, Dr A (Dakar Fann, Senegal)
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
09/05/2010	Uganda Business News: 1,000 illegal timber seized in Mukono Over 1,000 pieces of timber have been impounded today in an operation to curb illegal pit-sawing. ...	Uganda Pulse
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08/04/2010	NFA impounds sh50m timber The National Forestry Authority in collaboration with the Forest Concern-Uganda, a local NGO, has impounded ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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16/03/2010	Forestry impounds timber trucks About 10 trucks suspected of carrying illegal timber worth millions of shillings from different parts ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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07/03/2010	Survival of Uganda wetlands and forest will sustain or break us A subject close to the heart of this correspondent are all matters surrounding Uganda’s wetlands ...	eTurboNews
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08/12/2009	NFA earns sh60m from timber sales The National Forestry Authority (NFA) last weeek auctioned 360 lots of timber valued at sh60m.The timber ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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28/11/2009	Uganda Business News: NFA impounds illegal timber ...	UgPulse, Uganda
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26/11/2009	Africa: Fears forest proposals are 'human rights disaster' Copenhagen — The clean, ultra-modern chrome and glass lines of the Bella Centre, in the Danish ...	allAfrica.com
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15/11/2009	1,200 illegal timbers seized in Kibaale Over 1,200 pieces of timber have been impounded in an operation to curb illegal pit-sawing in Kibaale ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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30/10/2009	Trouble in the forests A new report on the National Forestry Authority (NFA) [Uganda] has revealed irregularities in giving ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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23/10/2009	Uganda to import firewood in 10 years Ugandans are degrading the environment so fast that we could start importing firewood within the next ...	Daily Monitor, Uganda
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06/10/2009	Foresters’ powers to be trimmed District authorities should no longer be allowed to grant permits for cutting trees, according to environment ...	The New Vision Online, Uganda
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25/09/2009	Africa's burning charcoal problem At a road block in western Tanzania, miles from anywhere, a uniformed official raises a flagged barrier. ...	BBC News
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24/09/2009	NFA to recruit 20,000 to police environment Kampala - The National Forestry Authority (NFA) wants to recruit 20,000 specialized environmental police ...	Daily Monitor, Uganda
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31/08/2009	Disappearing trees fuel food shortage You should have noticed a price surge of milk from sh1,000 to sh2,000 a litre. The supply from the cattle ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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27/08/2009	Timber sale fetches sh60m The National Forestry Authority has auctioned close to 400 lots of timber worth sh60m. “Some of ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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31/07/2009	Protecting forests costs more lives When I often hear, and on occasions say so myself, that conservation has its price, no one could have ...	East Africa Tourism Report
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26/07/2009	Three held over forest officer murder Three people have been arrested over the murder of a forest patrol officer together with his family at ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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23/07/2009	Forest officer, family murdered Twenty-five-year-old Patrick Kalemera accepted an offer to patrol Nakalanga forest reserve in Mukono ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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19/07/2009	Uganda: massive deforestation fuelling drought, famine in Kibaale Kampala - IT is just 8:00am and the sun is blazing in this remote Mpeefu sub-county, Kibaale district; ...	allAfrica.com
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08/07/2009	300,000 base on President's directive to encroach on forests President Museveni has stopped evictions of forest encroachers, despite appeals by the National Forestry ...	Daily Monitor, Uganda
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26/06/2009	Uganda: mob burns NFA vehicle, hacks official Mukono - A mob in Tukulu village, Najja Sub-county, Mukono District on Wednesday attacked and hacked ...	allAfrica.com
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25/06/2009	Timber loggers attack forestry officials Illegal timber loggers in Bufumbe central forest reserve in Buikwe, Mukono district, on Wednesday attacked ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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22/06/2009	Timber trade banned in 23 districts The National Forestry Authority [Uganda] is to ban timber harvesting in districts whose forests have ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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21/06/2009	Let us protect all existing forests A total of 23 districts in Uganda lost their forests, mainly in eastern and northern Uganda, according ...	New Vision Online, Uganda
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10/05/2009	Uganda: Nkalwe peasants wage war against forest encroachers Kampala - If a government official invited local people to discuss environmental issues, chances are ...	allAfrica.com
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22/04/2009	Manual to educate on deforestation Like many developing countries, Ugandas demand for timber and other forest products is increasing faster ...	Daily Monitor, Uganda
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02/04/2009	Uganda: 34 held over destroying forests Kampala - Over 34 people have been arrested by the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and the Police in ...	allAfrica.com
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23/03/2009	Sergeant nabbed over timber trade Uganda - A security officer has been arrested for helping alleged illegal timber dealers in Mukono. Sergeant ...	New Vision Online (Uganda)
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26/01/2009	Official is suspended for protecting forests Uganda - A forestry official who blocked State House staff and UPDF soldiers from stealing timber from ...	The Citizen Daily (Tanzania)
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15/01/2009	Illegal pit sawyers kill two forest officers Uganda - Two members of the National Forestry Authority in Masaka district have been killed in Bukakata ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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06/01/2009	Fifteen timber lorries impounded Uganda - A new group that is tracking illegal trade in forest products impounded 15 lorries loaded with ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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22/12/2008	Suspect timber seized in Uganda Six trucks of suspected illegal timber have been seized in the Mabira Forest in Uganda. ...	Timber Trades Journal (UK)
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07/12/2008	Uganda: Six Timber Lorries Impounded Kampala ' Six lorries carrying illegal timber were impounded in Mukono district yesterday. ...	AllAfrica.com
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15/11/2008	Uganda Government News: Uganda to deploy soldiers to protect forests Uganda - The government has announced intensified efforts to promote forest conservation with the latest ...	Wavah Broadcasting Company (Uganda)
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09/11/2008	Failure to implement protection laws decimating forests in Eastern Africa Even as the effects of climate change continue to bite, deforestation and land degradation continue unabated ...	Africa Science News Service (Kenya)
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04/11/2008	Ugandan president continues to undermine national forest reserves Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni - a leader who has repeatedly sought to hand forest areas over to industrial ...	Mongabay.com
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23/09/2008	Uganda: National Forest Authority Slaps Ultimatum On Gulu Timber Dealers Uganda - The National Forestry Authority has given timber dealers in Gulu and Amuru districts up to two ...	AllAfrica.com
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21/09/2008	LCs who collect revenue face arrest Uganda - Local council (LC) leaders who collect revenue or ask for bribes from the public are to be arrested, ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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06/08/2008	Timber disappears from Police custody Uganda - The National Forestry Authority has asked the Police in Lugazi to investigate its officers in ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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16/06/2008	NFA warns people against timber smuggling The National forestry Authority has warned the people against smuggling Timber to Foreign Countries neighboring ...	UG Pulse (Uganda)
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24/04/2008	Rangers accused of aiding illegal timber harvesting The Kapchorwa district chairman has accused the Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers of encouraging illegal ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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18/02/2008	Illegal felling of timber reduces Instances of illegal felling of timber in the forest reserves has reduced by about 40%. ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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24/12/2007	Uganda's President Revives Plan to Axe Rainforest Kampala, Uganda - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Friday revived a controversial plan to hand ...	Planet Ark (Australia)
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12/10/2007	Uganda: Forestry Officers Cited in Illegal Timber Sale Uganda Wildlife Authority has named Elgon Zone district forestry officers in the soaring depletion of ...	AllAfrica.com
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27/09/2007	Ugandan Army Accused of Looting Teak Wood from Southern Sudan Uganda's Minister of State for Defense says she is shocked by accusations that soldiers in the Ugandan ...	Voice of America (USA)
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24/09/2007	Uganda: Army Looted Sudan Timber, Says Report Uganda - A new report by the Small Arms Survey accuses UPDF soldiers of illegally logging trees from ...	AllAfrica.com
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25/04/2007	Uganda: 354 Forest Reserves Face Destruction Uganda - Seventy percent of the 506 forest reserves in the country risk destruction, the State Minister ...	AllAfrica.com
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21/03/2007	Forests in danger As the world marks the Forest Day today, there is little to celebrate in Uganda. The country's forests ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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19/02/2007	Bulisa RDC implicated in Budongo Forest logging Uganda - The National Forestry Authority has implicated the RDC of Bulisa, Kato Matanda, in illegal logging ...	New Vision (Uganda)
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06/01/2007	Uganda: Govt to Give Away Nine More Forests Kampala, Uganda - Even before the dust raised by the Mabira and Kalangala forests giveaways settles, ...	AllAfrica.com
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30/12/2006	Uganda: MPs to Sue Govt Over Bugala Forest Giveaway Uganda - Two members of Parliament have vowed to sue government over the giveaway of Bugala rainforests ...	AllAfrica.com
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13/12/2006	Uganda's Museveni defends plans to destroy forests Kampala, Uganda - President Yoweri Museveni has defended plans to destroy some of Uganda's last ...	Reuters (UK)
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21/11/2005	Congo expels timber dealers ...	AllAfrica.com
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Monday 6th December 2004	Commission For Africa ' Forest Programme Brainstorm A brainstorming session on illegal logging held in part to feed into the Commission for Africa Report, ...
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LINKS

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	REPORT
'Vision' Interactive GIS Tool	This web-GIS tool currently focuses on the three study areas that are part of the IES programme on Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA). These areas are: Central Kalimantan, Indonesian part of Borneo; the Mataven region in Colombia; the transboundary region between Rwanda, Uganda and the DR Congo, in the African Great Lakes region. The tool allows users to access and analyse mapping and monitoring information, including forest cover and deforestation, thus increasing transparency and fostering accountability.	Broken link
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AfriTRON: African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network	The African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network (AfriTRON), is an international network of researchers engaged in on-the-ground long-term monitoring of tropical forests. The network pools expertise and data to help answer larger-scale and longer-term questions relating to the ecology and biogeochemistry of African tropical forests. In particular AfriTRON aims to address questions of contemporary importance such as the possible impacts of regional and global environmental changes on tropical forests, and the impacts of changes in the forests themselves on the regional and global environment. This is done through partnerships between scientists across the world, students and local villages who host our field-trips.	Broken link
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