Government through the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban development and National forestry Authority-NFA has again resumed the process of reopening the boundary of Bugoma forest reserve.
This is the third time government is attempting to reopen the forest boundary. In November last year, the government through the Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Development embarked on the long-awaited reopening of the Bugoma forest reserve boundary.
However, a few weeks after the start of the boundary reopening, Kikuube district officials halted the exercise citing irregularities.
The leaders then argued that NFA and the Ministry of Land refused to engage local leaders, area residents, and a private surveyor on behalf of the local community during the demarcation exercise.
In February this year, the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development again resumed the process of reopening the boundaries but the process ended prematurely after residents protested the criteria being used by the government to reopen the forest boundary. This situation also led to the boundary reopening being halted.
Now Henry Opio Ogenyi, the Assistant commissioner for surveys and mappings in the land ministry says after thoroughly engaging the relevant stakeholders and residents settled adjacent to the forest reserve, this time they are confident that the boundary re-opening will go on smoothly without any interruptions.
According to Ogenyi, currently they are engaging the neighboring communities settled near the forest reserve to work hand in hand with officials who are on the ground to kick start the demarcation process.
Peter Banura, the Kikuube LC5 Chairperson is optimistic that the boundary reopening will help solve conflicts that have been emerging for a long time between the NFA and residents settling near the forest reserve.
Amlan Tumusiime, the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner-RDC calls for teamwork between the ministry of lands officials, NFA and leaders in the area for the process to yield fruits.
Desire Nkurunziza, the LCI Chairperson Nyairongo village in Kabwoya sub-county that is near the forest reserve calls on the lands ministry and NFA officials to be transparent while executing their duties of the boundary reopening. He too demands that locals should be included and be part of the exercise.
Rose Kyalisiima, a resident of Kabwoya near the forest reserve too says that if the locals are not involved in the boundary reopening, the entire process is likely to flop again.
Covering 410 square kilometers of a protected area and a stretch of forest measuring 40 kilometers, Bugoma is a tropical forest that was gazetted in 1932. It is endowed with 24 species of mammals, 465 species of trees, 359 species of birds, 289 species of butterflies, and 130 species of moths. The mammals include monkeys, chimpanzees, buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, and at times elephants.
The forest reserve is a migratory route for wild animals and a catchment for rivers that drain into Lake Albert where oil has been discovered. The boundary reopening would help address issues that have pit residents against NFA for decades.
Bugoma central forest reserve has been in the news since 2016 when the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom leased 22square miles to Hoima sugar limited.
The sugar factory leased close to 22 square miles of the contested Bugoma Central Forest reserve land from the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom for sugarcane growing for 99 years.
However, the National Environment Management Authority-NEMA found 13 of the 22 square miles, unfit for a sugar plantation and recommended their preservation since it’s a wetland and forest reserve.
As a result, the Authority allowed the Hoima Sugar factory to cultivate sugarcane on the remaining 9.24 square miles covering the grassland, establish an urban center on 1.26 square miles, an eco-tourism center on 1.97 square miles, and restore 3.13 square miles of the forest reserve.
They also recommended the preservation of another 0.156 hectares for the cultural site and 6.17 square miles as a natural forest.
However, several conservationists have opposed the move, saying the giveaway is not only a threat to the ecosystem and endangered species but it is likely to hurt tourism activities, which are a source of revenue for the local communities and the country.
Bunyoro Kitara has since explained that the land that was leased to Hoima Sugar is not part of Bugoma forest but the Kingdom’s Ancestral land that is adjacent to the reserve.
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