Communities Commend WWF for the Conservation Efforts Exhibited

Posted on 26 June 2023

Communities in Kagadi district have commended WWF Uganda for the conservation interventions towards restoration of Bugoma-Kagombe landscape.

The complements were made during the joint monitoring visit of the FRECAR project by officials from WWF Denmark, Face the Future, WWF Uganda, National Forestry Authority (NFA) and Kagadi district leadership.

“We commend the level of expertise that WWF and partners have demonstrated in community engagement and implementation of the interventions that are set to provide lasting solutions to the climate change issues we have been struggling with”, stated one of the project beneficiaries.

He added that communities involved in this project are headed for a better future where livelihood income shall increase as the environment recovers from degradation.

Led by WWF-Uganda, in partnership with Uganda’s National Forestry Authority (NFA), the FRECAR project entails regenerating the Murchison-Semuliki landscape (Kagombe and Bugoma CFRs) in the Albertine Rift. This region boasts 6,568 plant species and 1,833 terrestrial vertebrates in its tropical moist forests.

However, the Murchison-Semuliki landscape has suffered a 66% decline in forest cover in the last two decades alone, one of the highest deforestation rates in Uganda. Despite most of Uganda’s protected areas being concentrated here, pressure from agricultural land use, illegal timber logging and human settlement have led to significant forest degradation. Unsustainable agricultural use alone has led to an 88% reduction of the forest area in the Kagombe region, while more than half has been lost in Bugoma.

According to Philip Kihumuro, the project Manager, the 20-year project is currently addressing biodiversity, climate and livelihood issues simultaneously and is currently on track.

The Senior Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Advisor for International Programmes at WWF Denmark, Simone Charnley stated that there is evidence that the restoration efforts underway shall have a lasting impact in the area.

“The energy and commitment exhibited by all partners in the implementation of both livelihood and restoration interventions under the FRECAR project give hope to a future with a halt on habitat loss, deforestation and land degradation while benefiting local communities”, she said.

WWF's Project Manager, Philip Kihumuro expressing his love for trees