Power-Less Ugandans Fuel Deforestation?
Mabira Forest
Lack of electricity in Ugandan homes continues to fuel deforestation, the Daily Monitor reported on Feb. 27th.
In 1990, Uganda’s natural heritage included 5 million hectares of tropical forest. But by 2005, it had lost more than a quarter of its forest cover, with its forest cover dropping to 3.5 million hectares. Although 1990 is often cited as a benchmark, deforestation was also a major problem in the 1980s, as Uganda transitioned from Obote in 1980 to Museveni in 1986. Forest reserves during that difficult political period were cleared indiscriminately, as the population suffered economically and law continued to break down.
Today, despite rapid development in places like Kampala, only ten percent of Ugandans have access to electricity. 89 percent of the population relies on firewood for fuel. The Daily Monitor reported that forest guards make an effort to halt deforestation, but leave women in the lurch, who need fuel to keep their households running. They still need to get firewood from places like Mabira Forest, but are now paying as much as sh30,000 for a sack of firewood. Unfortunately, poverty and environmental degradation seem to go hand in hand.
Uganda has over 11 percent of the world’s species of birds, and 7 percent of the world’s species of mammals. Uganda’s national forest policy stresses conservation, management, and sustainable development of forests. The forests are precious to many people, due to their natural beauty, spiritual value, and the livelihoods it creates.
In April 2007, three people died during a violent protest against the government’s attempt to allocate land from Mabira to a Ugandan Indian-owned sugar company Mehta Group, the BBC reported. One Indian man was stoned during the protest, and a Hindu temple was damaged. 40 people had to be rescued by the police from the temple when a mob descended upon it. Two Ugandans were killed, a suspected looter and a passerby killed by a stray bullet.
Mehta wanted to take over one-third of the tropical rainforest for a sugar plantation. Many Ugandans began boycotting its sugar products during the deal. The Kabaka offered to give the company land on an alternative site to build the plantation, to protect the forest. President Museveni published an editorial in New Vision explaining in detail the government’s support of the Mehta-Mabira deal.
Forest land has also been given to Bidco, an edible oil company, in Kalangala for palm oil plantations. What do you think Uganda should do to create jobs while taking care of its environment, which has many economic, social, and spiritual benefits? What will it take to get more Ugandan homes powered by electricity, so they can avoid using firewood and charcoal?
In 2007, the government announced that it would plant millions of trees between 2008 and 2012 to create a large carbon sink that could earn Uganda money as industrialized countries consider rewarding developing countries for protecting forests and planting trees. Reuters reported this story. Rwanda has had significant success restoring their forest cover after losing much of their natural heritage in the 1990s. Between 2000 and 2005, Rwanda regained 136,000 hectares of forest, reforesting at a rate of 6.9 percent a year.
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