Healthy forests are the backbone to rural resilience.
Uganda is a country rich in biodiversity and natural treasures. The country’s economy is highly dependent on its environment: agriculture employs 70% of Ugandans and contributes to half of its export earnings. Healthy forests are the backbone to rural resilience in this context. Better using the products that trees and forests provide can significantly increase the incomes of rural communities, thus providing an incentive for restoration and forest protection.
Yet, Uganda’s forests are vanishing at a staggering rate. Between 1990 and 2015, forest cover dwindled from almost 5 million hectares to less than 2. Today, only 9% of the country is covered by forests.
Human activities are the main cause of deforestation in Uganda, and with rapid population growth, these pressures are only increasing. But the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlights Uganda’s enormous potential: more than 8 million hectares can be restored through measures like afforestation, reforestation and agroforestry, especially in Northern and Western regions. In fact, due to its suitable climate, soil and rainfall, the country harbors the best conditions for restoration in all of East Africa.
Fairventures Worldwide’s project, supported by the Audemars Piguet Foundation for Trees from 2020 to 2023, aims to provide restoration solutions that are adapted to local conditions and market opportunities that will benefit communities and the environment by planting agroforestry trees which can be used as timber in the construction sector. These trees are suitable to local conditions, and rural communities can achieve food security, better soils and higher incomes. By introducing these trees coupled with modern technologies in manufacturing these timber species, the Ugandan construction sector can be transformed from steel and concrete towards timber constructions.
Through its programme established in the west of the country – a priority area for restoration – Fairventures brings together local communities, entrepreneurs, traders, craftsmen and government agencies with global forestry and timber experts to work together in four strategic areas: identifying locally appropriate and beneficial tree species for community-based afforestation; establishing mixed timber-agroforestry systems benefiting local communities; building capacity of regional small and medium enterprises; increasing awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of sustainable mass timber construction among farmers, craftsmen, traders, policy makers and the wider public.
