Abstract:
Uganda had 4.93M ha of forest cover by 1990s (24.1%), but by 2005 this has reduced to only 3.55M ha (17.4%). Thus, the country lost 28% of its forest cover in just 15 years at a deforestation rate of 92,000 ha per year. Recent biomass assessment has indicated that overall per capita forest area has drop from 0.3ha (1990) to only 0.1 ha in 2025. Protected forests in forest and wildlife reserves make only 30% of the forest cover in the country; hence 70% is on private land under the control of the local communities. Recent results show that most of this forest cover loss is on private land owned by local communities and the trend has continued to date without any deliberate and systematic reversal. This aside, Uganda now has less than 300 ha of mature industrial plantations to provide timber; hence the pressure for timber will automatically shift to the ecologically sensitive natural forests in protected areas