Project
This project aims to restore 28,000 hectares of heavily degraded vegetation into natural forest through assisted natural regeneration, enrichment plantings, and conservation, alongside approximately 14,000 hectares into commercial tree plantations intertwined with wide riparian zones that will also be restored.
The project contributes to securing wood supply thanks to high-value timber production. The project will aim to certify the value-chain from production to local processing, driven by both local and international markets. This will ensure large revenues from timber even after the carbon project ends.
We partnered with Equatoria Forestry Company and hummingbirds, to undertake a transformative forest plantation and restoration project in Uganda. Over the past year, we have laid the groundwork with these partners, and we are now beginning the concrete implementation of the project. This collaboration shows our efforts towards reforestation, forest protection, and ecosystem restoration.
Local stakeholders
At the heart of this project lies not only the ecological significance but also the socio-economic impact on surrounding communities. By actively engaging with local stakeholders, we aim to create benefits while building a business case for sustainable forest management.
The inhabitants around the Central Forest Reserve will be the corner stone of the project, operating all activities on the ground, from the tree nursery settlement and maintenance to plantation campaigns, felling and wood processing. During the first years of the plantation, inhabitants will be encouraged to practice intercropping to ensure sustainable food production locally. By doing so, they will directly contribute to restore highly degraded zones, conserve riparian areas and remaining gallery forests in the Central Forest Reserve, which was gazetted in 1938.
Carbon
Our efforts will remove carbon from the atmosphere and generate carbon credits. The project will avoid up to 5.2 million tons of CO2 over 40 years.
Please check Hummingbirds for more information.
“We are excited about the opportunities this partnership presents and the positive impact it will have on both the environment and communities in Uganda. Together, with Equatoria Forestry Company and Hummingbirds, we are committed to realizing a more sustainable future for generations to come”. – Rutger de Wolf – Senior Forestry Expert at Form International