BUIKWE– The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa has promised to fight those that have encroached on Mabira Forest, saying that those destroying the forest will face the wrath of the law.
Tayebwa made the remarks in Buikwe district on Friday where celebrated his 42nd birthday as he engaged in a tree planting activity organised by Rotary Club of Kampala at St. Joseph’s Seminary Nyenga.
His remarks to protect the forest followed a plea by the area Members of Parliament that he asks National Forestry Authority [NFA] and the National Environment Management Authority [NEMA to do their job of conserving the the forest located along Kampala-Jinja Highway.
“We are having a problem here of Mabira Forest [Reserve] which is being cut down at high speed every day. All the other forests in the district are also being depleted. We have engaged NFA to come and help us but we have failed,” the state minister in the office of the Vice President and Woman Member of Parliament for Buikwe district, Diana Mutasingwa said.
She added: “We request for your assistance on the issue of Mabira Central Forest Reserve.”
Njeru Municipality MP, Jimmy Lwanga said some factories were flaunting environmental protocols with impunity.
He said the national environmental protection agencies-NFA and NEMA were sleeping on their job.
Lwanga who sits on the Natural Resources Committee of Parliament said factories had been set up in residential areas and that they were polluting the environment.
“NEMA needs to regulate these industries. We need investors but again, our life matters,” he said, expressing concern over the rate at which forests were also being depleted.
Tayebwa was shocked by the extent of destruction in Mabira Central Forest Reserve.
He promised that he would despatch two Parliamentary Committees including the Natural Resources Committee and Climate Change to assess the magnitude of the matter and report to the House.
He said whoever has participated in committing environmental crimes in Mabira Forest would be punished.
“I’m going to send the Committee of Natural Resources and the one of Climate Change to pay a special visit around Mabira and the factories we are having around so that we come up with clear resolutions,” Tayebwa said.
The deputy speaker also called for the planting of indigenous trees.
“We should reduce eucalyptus trees and pine trees. We should now be planting our indigenous trees which will be harvested in 100 years,” he said.
He said planting more trees will contribute to reforestation efforts, restoring lost forests, repairing damaged ecosystems, and mitigating the effects of climate change.
“Planting trees is one of the most important things we can do to contribute to the health of the planet. Forests are the lungs of our planet, drawing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen and we are the world’s buffer,” he said.
Mabira Forest is the largest remaining block of semi-evergreen rainforest in the Victoria Basin forest-savanna mosaic eco-region. It covers about 30,000 hectares gazetted in 1932.
The reserve is a secondary forest and has been subject to long-term human influence.
Logging in the forest began in the early 20th century, with tree species such as mahogany [Khaya anthotheca] and mvule [Milicia excelsa] being cut down for their valuable timber.
During the 1970s and 80s, the government allowed banana and coffee plantations in the reserve.
The reserve is home to over 300 species of birds such as Grey long bill, Cassinis hawk, and nine species of primates such as red-tailed monkeys, vervets, and grey-cheeked mangabeys. There are also species of butterflies and moths in the forest that also has over 300 species of trees.
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