MASAKA– Non-profit organisations – Masaka District Land Care Chapter [MADLACC] International Tree Foundation [ITF] and The Size of Wales, have launched a new project codenamed ”Gender and Climate Justice” in the Greater Masaka region.
The project aims to empower women groups in communities as well as schoolgirls to take a lead role in promoting climate adaptation and mitigation measures through tree planting. It will be implemented in the sub-counties of Kisekka and Kyazanga in Lwengo district and Nyendo-Mukungwe Division in Masaka city.
The Project Coordinator, Mathias Wakulira, said the project to take one year would support women to plant over 36,000 trees in local communities. It is envisaged that the trees will boost soil fertility in Greater Masaka, leading to increased crop yields, as it will utilise trees suitable for agroforestry.
The project will train local communities about the importance of agroforestry as well as good tree nursery management. “Women will be trained how to prepare potted tree seedlings for trees such as Musizi [Maesopsis eminii], Mvule [Chlorophora excelsa], and fruit trees among others.”
Masaka District Forest Officer, Willy Bbaale said the district has a forest cover of 34,822 hectares, but that 60 percent of the forests have been destroyed due to high demand for charcoal, timber, and land for pineapple in the sub-counties of Kyanamukaka, Kyesiiga, Buwunga, and Bukakata.
Bbaale said women are more responsible once they are equipped with techniques of environmental protection. ”Women are caretakers of our homes and as they prepare our meals, they look for firewood, and so they need to be trained in making charcoal-saving stoves and briquettes,” he advised.
Francis Ssemantimba, one of the teachers coordinating schools in Greater Masaka to implement the project, said about 12 primary schools in the region have already been onboarded and established ‘Junior land care clubs aimed at teaching students the importance of tree planting.
He also said schoolchildren would be engaged in learning activities related to tree planting and care, which he said will help schools have trees in their compounds. He said planted trees would provide fresh fruits, and vegetable leaves to improve the nutrition of students.
The Deputy Director at ‘Size of Wales’, Babra Davies Quy from Wales in the UK visited women groups in Masaka district, saying that promoting the rights of women to participate in decision-making on environmental matters is crucial. She said that a lot of trees worldwide have been cut down, adding that women’s voices are often not heard when it comes to the protection of the environment.
”Women have a lot of enthusiasm and if they are empowered, they can work together in protecting the environment and fight climatic harsh conditions,” she said adding that Wales can learn a lot from the Ugandan women on how they are managing land in a sustainable way.
The project is also being implemented in the mountain Elgon region.
https://thecooperator.news/masindi-authorities-partners-to-plant-30000-trees-in-schools/
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