In 2021 government through it’s relevant agencies embarked on the process to open up the boundaries of Bugoma Forest Reserve. Thats is when hell broke loose.
Initially the 22 squre mile forest reserve covered the two districts of Kikuube and Hoima with 41,142 hectares of land as gazetted in 1932.
Currently, the destruction of Bugoma Forest reserve has gained pace, shrinking its acreage and its biodiversity.
The Bugoma Forest reserve was home to 23 species of mammal, 225 species of birds and 260 plant species. It also had 20 species of forest amphibians known to occur in the reserve. The forest had a considerable number of chimpanzees.
Today when one enters the forest reserve, they are greeted by large swathes of destructed land, not trees or animals.
Residents that live near the forest accuse officials from National Forest Authority (NFA) of spearheading the massive destruction of the reserve.
The chairperson of Kaseeta village in Hoima, Desire Nzurunziza, says they have tried their level best to fight for the reservation of the reserve butl invain.
“I have been arrested more than three times on accusations of inciting violence and trespass but I will not give up on fighting for my people”.Nkuluzinza told Bbeg Media.
He said a big part of the reserve was given to Hoima Sugar to grow sugarcane affecting its ecosystem.
Hassan Mugenyi also a resident of Kaseeta village and the chairperson of Save Bugoma Campaign said they were not consulted before the recently concluded boundary opening by NFA.
“As leaders we were left behind and to make matters worse some parts of land belonging to our community was taken by NFA, ” Mugenyi said, almost on the verge of tears.
In 2017 Mugenyi collected 30,000 signatures from residents and petitioned Parliament but their concerns were never addressed.
Residents worry is that since the opening of the boundaries in 2021, they have not seen the report yet the destruction of the reserve continues unabated.
Reliable sources told Bbeg Media that you have to pay Shs 300,000 to rent an acre in the reserve and even then, you must have the “right connection” with the authorities. Some of the beneficiaries of this scheme are senior government officials, we were told.
Paul Mugisa is the Chairperson of Corraborative Forest Management Association, a civil society organisation, said in 2008 NFA had signed a memondum of understanding of 10 years with residents to conduct joint operations aimed at stemming the destruction. It expired in 2018.
After the expiry of the MOU, residents were denied access to the forest it was the source of their livelihood. Some of them were bee keepers and had hives in the forest. Others used to get medicinal herbs and white ants from the forest.
Our efforts to get a comment from NFA were futile. The body’s public relations officer, Juliet Mubiru, told Bbeg Media that she was not in position to speak to us.
