FAO, Government of Uganda and partners commit to forest restoration for sustainable development
In commemoration of International Day of Forests, 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations joined the Government of Uganda and its partners, to reiterate their commitment to restoring forests and degraded lands, as well as calling for action to reduce deforestation. The call for forest restoration and better management of the ecosystem was made during a high-level national dialogue organised jointly by FAO, the European Union, the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda, and the Ministry of Water and Environment, on 18 March 2021 in Kampala. The theme for International Day of Forests 2021 is “Forest restoration: A path to recovery and wellbeing”.
While officiating at the dialogue, the Minister of State for Environment- Honourable Beatrice Anywar, noted that Uganda faces a great challenge in meeting its national and global commitments to protect and restore forests because the country has a high rate of deforestation.
“We have been losing about 122 000 hectares of forests each year and if we continue business as usual and if we don’t act, we shall not have any forests by 2030”, if we”, she said.
She noted that dealing with the problem of loss of forests and biodiversity requires innovative approaches, especially since the country has made ambitious commitments to restore its forest cover. During the 2014 Climate Change Summit, Uganda pledged to restore 2.5 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 (the Bonn Challenge). The Government has also started a campaign to plant 40 million trees- particularly indigenous species, every year.
Honourable Anywar also called for mind-set change among communities, to help the population gain positive and favourable attitudes towards tree growing and forest protection, while adopting non-wood sources of fuel.
While speaking at the dialogue, Antonio Querido, the FAO Representative in Uganda said “the world needs urgent response to restore the ecosystem, including investing in tree planting and forest protection”.
Since 2016, with financial support from the European Union (EU), FAO has been at the fore front of promoting growing of forest plantations by the private sector as well as woodlots by rural communities and institutions all over the country. FAO implements this crucial work through the Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS), a project which the EU and Government of Uganda embarked on in 2004. To date, abut 80 000 hectares of forests have been planted in Uganda.
Querido emphasised the need to invest, adopt and promote the use of alternative sources of cooking energy such as biogas, which FAO is piloting in West Nile and Central Cattle Corridor regions of Uganda.
Caroline Adriaensen, the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation in Uganda commended the long standing partnership between the EU and the Government of Uganda, whose basis she said is “the common understanding and respect for the idea of protecting forests while promoting sustainable use of forests and forestry products”. She noted that the EU aims at becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 and to ensure this, forestry and other related sectors are critical to achieving this goal, especially by partnering with countries like Uganda.
During the highly attended event, two key note addresses were made by Pauline Nantongo Kalunda, the Executive Director of the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST) and Fred Babweteera, an Associate Professor and Dean of the School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences at Makerere University. Babweteera challenged Government and all partners in the environment sector to review the ambitious plans for forest restoration to ensure they are feasible and that progress is being made. He also called for transformation of food production systems, land reforms and institutional governance to complement forest restoration efforts.
Ola Hällgren, Head of Development Cooperation Section at the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda, praised his Embassy’s collaboration with FAO and with the Government of Uganda. In Uganda, the embassy of Sweden is working with FAO under the Climate Resilient Livelihood opportunities for Women Economic Empowerment project to help rural households to reduce their dependency on wood biomass as a main source of energy. Through this support, FAO is working to provide clean, safe and labour saving energy technologies for gender responsive transformation and climate change mitigation in West Nile and Karamoja regions of Uganda by turning agricultural residue and waste into clean energy.
The International Day of Forests Dialogue also featured a panel of distinguished speakers from International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Standard Chartered Bank, the European Union and Generation Engage Network- a youth organization.
About International Day of Forests
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests (IDF) in 2012. This global celebration of forests provides a platform to raise awareness about the importance of all types of woodlands and trees, and to celebrate the ways in which they sustain and protect us. Every year on International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees. For more information on International Day of Forests, please visit the website: http://www.fao.org/international-day-of-forests/en/