NFA updates Budongo Forest Management Plan

MASINDI, October 30, 2023 – The National Forestry Authority [NFA] has started the process of updating the Budongo Forest Reserve Management Plan which expired in 2019.

According to Boaz Basigirenda, the range manager Budongo Range System, the process will take three weeks, with stakeholder consultative meetings being held in 11 sub-counties adjacent to the forest in the districts of Hoima, Masindi and Buliisa.

“This is the chance to integrate all the views of the stakeholders and they are going to help us in the better management of the forest on the side of government,” he said.

The update is going to be done in five forests which are in the catchment area of Budongo Forest Reserve.

They include Budongo Forest, Masenge Forest Reserve, Nyabyeya Forest, Kasokwa and Rwensama forest reserves all covering 84,025 hectares.

According to Leo Twinomuhangi, the coordinator for policy and planning in NFA, the update has a lot of benefits.

“We are going to include the people’s views in the management, streamline the resource use, update on the forest coverage to ascertain whether the forest is increasing or reducing in size. We are also going to focus on the trend and conflicts and the threat the forest is facing and develop recommendations and solutions,” he added.

He added that the update of the forest’s management plan will further help NFA to get an insight into what is happening in the surrounding areas.

“It will help us to know how to deal with the challenges. Be able to mitigate the negative impact of the pollution from the oil development among others,” he noted.

He also said the forest is grappling with challenges like encroachment, illegal logging, conflicts over boundaries among others.

Budongo Forest Reserve was gazetted in 1932 and the update of its management plan is done every after 10 years.

The update of the forest’s management plan is being funded by the Swedish and Irish governments through the World Bank.

https://thecooperator.news/bunyoro-kingdom-officials-nfa-clash-over-budongo-forest/

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