ILLEGAL LOGGING RISES IN BUDONGO FOREST AFTER LOCAL MONITORS QUIT

A man looks at an abandoned logging area in Budongo Forest Reserve . PHOTO BY EPHRAIM KASOZI 

By EPHRAIM KASOZI 

Kampala. Illegal logging in Budongo Central Forest Reserve in western Uganda has worsened after communities living around the forest abandoned monitoring the forest.

Mr Rajab Kahwa, the leader of North Budongo Forest Communities Association, said residents of Masindi, Hoima and Buliisa districts, who are tasked with reporting illegal loggers to the authorities, have abandoned the work due to lack of facilitation.
“Going for a patrol in the forest without expecting any benefit becomes difficult. While we are working to rebuild, there is no way we can help fight and or report illegal activities using personal means,” said Mr Kahwa said during a tour of the forest reserve last week.
However, Budongo Sector manager Moses Kabireho said community forest monitors (CFMs) are not prioritised because of their low performance in terms of protecting the reserve. 
Mr Kabireho added that the National Forestry Authority is working towards insuring the protection of the reserve using other means. Agreements between communities and forestry authorities indicate that residents are supposed to be given limited access to the forest where they can collect firewood, herbs as they report illegal activities.
However, Mr Kabireho said most community members have broken this pact and have since leased off their land to sugarcane growers and embarked on illegal logging.

THE BACKGROUND
Located on the northeast of Lake Albert, Budongo Central Forest Reserve is the country’s only largest tropical forest known for its former abundance of East African mahogany trees and a home to a population of chimpanzees. However, the increasing illegal felling of trees has left it facing extinction.

CREDIT SOURCE: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Illegal-logging-rises-in-Budongo-forest-after-monitors-quit/-/688334/2549098/-/ytmq73z/-/index.html