PHOTO: The scorched earth that streches from Akoo village, about 18km to the lower belt of Aswa River -Photo By Simon Wokorach
Charcoal dealers have established their network of collaboration within the local communities, making it difficult to evacuate them from the area as the vice of indiscriminate tree-cutting continues.
GULU. A drive into the interior Paibona Sub County reveals how a once impenetrable wood landscape now stands on its former shadow as stumps of trees and charred trees replaced its beauty.
Stretching about 20 kilometers from its administrative center engulfing several villages, the scorched earth and barren land drive you into the lower belt of the Aswa River with extremely violent temperatures.
The devastating impacts of the indiscriminate tree cutting are vividly seen in the two parishes of Aleda and Akor where heaps of trees were ready for burning while several trees were still grounded with power saws.
Of the 14 villages with woodland, only two have survived; the most affected ones being, Akoo, Aleda, Ayweri, Oboko Tugu, Gem, Larib, Borbayo, Lakalanganya, Acut-Omer and Lalano. The population of 10,000 people is predominantly peasant.
The area is infested with loggers from different parts of the country who camouflaged as herdsmen living in temporary structures as they scout for virgin lands with trees to cut for charcoal and logs.
Joseph Lugac, an elderly man in his 80s is wrestling alone to save the endangered tree species. Lugac, who started with a relatively small farm of pine trees, sees himself growing a forest on about three hectares of land in the subsequent years to recover the disintegrated woodland cover.
Not long before he resettled in his ancestral land from the internally displaced peoples’ (IDPs) camp, the trees started disappearing; the fastest rate came about four years ago and scorched the earth. Consequently, rain-fed agriculture ceased its usefulness as a means of livelihood to the predominantly peasant households due to the erratic rainfall patterns.
Lugac who used to grow cereal crops says it has now become difficult to plant due to unpredictable rain patterns as crops are either withered by drought or destroyed by uncontrollable floods.
“The virus we have now is tree cutting and we can’t stop it because everyone is eating from the business but what we can do is to plant more trees and bring back the forest,” said Lugac. The area which is mainly known for food crop production has seen a shift from its traditional land use where barren land is being turned into grazing areas, attracting herdsmen from far and near.
Victor Oloya, a 24-year-old resident of Aburogo and a local farmer in the area still remembers the two rain seasons that the area used to experience but has now reduced to one. While he battles with unreliable rainfall, his crops in the gardens which would survive the harsh weather are again destroyed by animals roaming up the area from the little-known Balaalo pastoralists.
“The animals are everywhere and they feed on our crops in the gardens. We don’t even have enough food to eat and many of us have dropped out of school because we don’t have money,” Oloya lamented.
With the changing weather affecting food security in the area, the local communities are either engaged in the charcoal business or have rented their lands to herdsmen for pastoralism as they surrender farming.
The Sub County Chair Paibona Lower Local Government, Jackson Ayoli however noted that those in the business have operating licenses from the National Forestry Authority whom they cannot stop. The area is invaded by machine-wielding men numbered about 200 who came from the Central and Western parts of Uganda to trade in logging and charcoal burning.
The encroachers have established their network of collaboration within the local communities, making it difficult to evacuate them from the area as the vices continue. “The challenge we have is that the law allows any Ugandan to settle anywhere in any part of the country and they have been rented land here in consensus with the land owner,” Ayoli disclosed in an interview.
Besides the violent nature of destroying the environment that turned the area barren of trees, the local government has also been on the spot for aiding the vice for appetite for revenue collection. In a double standard approach, the Sub County Chair Ayoli noted that once the encroachers are issued licenses to operate from the higher authorities, they have nothing but to get a share of the revenue.
“The forest governance is highly centralized and at the local unit here we can’t reverse what the central government has decided and this is the weak link in fighting the crime,” Ayoli further explained. At the Sub County, the revenue from forest products is used to pay councillors’ allowances and according to the Chairman, Paibona, it generates 3.1 million shillings from the illegal trade per quarter.
The National Forestry Authority Kilak Range Area Sector Manager, Joseph Otim noted that the management of woodland is the mandate of the local government which is being taken for granted. He revealed that the National Forestry Authority is only mandated to protect 506 forest reserves in the Country which is only 15 per cent of the forest cover in the Country and the majority of the forested land is owned by the private people which should have been protected by the local government of each area.
He is however worried that the law enforcement on forest governance has been weakened as everyone in the sector has resigned from their role, looking at the lucrative benefits from the trade.
“The ones dealing in the trade are highly placed within the security circles and there have always been threats to our lives. When you look at them you just resign your role because survival to me and my family is much better than fighting these vices which will claim your life,” Otim told this reporter.
“The threat is big and sometimes you can’t even go to work but hide and pretend as if you haven’t seen anything because the system isn’t working to protect us on the forefront.” Otim further disclosed.
He blamed the vice on the wealthy class of people in the Country whom he says do not care about the ordinary person in times of crisis adding that, from the loot of the environment, they have amassed wealth to prolong their lives even if the resources get depleted.
The Chairman Acholi Environmental Conservation Organization Denis Ocitii described the destruction of woodland in the region as worrying and alarming and urged the various stakeholders to take sensitization of locals to the importance of conservation as key in their programming.
He noted that the local environmental network has recruited at least 5 members of vigilante youths in every district across the region whose mandate will be to create local awareness of the importance of tree planting as means of reversing the already drastic impact of climate change affecting livelihoods.
Besides several interventions to save the disappearing forest in the region, Northern Uganda has seen unprecedented violence against its nature soon after the communities returned from the internally displaced people camps.
The recent finding from the Centre for African Research revealed that two-thirds of the valuable tree species in the region have been destroyed due to illegal logging and charcoal burning. The Uganda environmental report by the National Forestry Authority presents the fastest forest depletion in the Country which stands at 4 per cent annually. In comparison, 63 per cent of the forest cover disappeared between 1990 and 2015 as the report indicates.
Despite the Presidential directive of 2018 to ban trade in the endangered tree species that included Africana Afrizella, shea trees and mahogany among others, the vice has continued as several police officers and military men were on the spot for illegal logging and charcoal business.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Environment, Beatrice Atim Anywar has issued a fresh ban on trade in forest products in the region as a countermeasure to the high rate of crime on the environment. The directive dated January 11, 2023, has tasked the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Executive Director National Forestry Authority, the Aswa Regional Police Commander and the leadership of Gulu District to oversee the implementation of the new directive.
Gulu District according to a recent report by the Ministry of Environment has lost 37,700 hectares of its tree cover between 2010 and 2021 which represents 6.2 percent of resources. The report further indicates that those in the charcoal businesses from the neighbouring Districts obtain permits from Gulu.
The Aswa Regional Police Public Relations Officer, David Ongom Mudong, noted that the directive has no differences from the others which do not provide details on how the enforcers should implement the decision taken, the weak link that he said has affected the implementation of many directives in the region.
In 2015, the Districts in the region passed an ordinance to ban commercial charcoal burning in the region but the decision like others has not been implemented as the forest products turned into big sources of revenue from the local government to finance their activities.
