¶ Declaration and Gazetting of Forest Reserves
Because of Uganda’s dependence on agriculture, the continuing increase of population, and the rapid expansion of industrialisation, it is necessary to limit the size of the permanent forest estate to a minimum that will achieve the objectives set out in the Forestry Policy. It is therefore necessary to protect the existing estate, and to resist further excisions as much as possible. If an opportunity arises for further reservation, especially for conservation purposes, the opportunity should be taken. The Forestry Policy (2001) indicates that the current estate of approximately 1.9 million ha (all land in FRs and forested areas in national parks & wildlife reserves), is considered adequate to achieve the policy objectives (Forest Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment, 2001 [1]), provided effective and efficient management practices are applied.
Instruction 66: The current area of the permanent forest estate shall not be reduced, but it may be increased should an opportunity become available, and there is clear justification for doing so that serves the local, national and/or global interest, and the necessary resources are available.
Instruction 67: When a decision to declare an area as a forest reserve (FR) is taken, the procedure outlined in Sections 6-11 of the Forestry Act, and elaborated in the Guidelines on Declaring Forest Reserves issued by the Minister shall be followed.
Instruction 68: FR Registers shall be maintained at the District Forestry Office (for LFRs), NFA (for CFRs), and the Ministry responsible for forests (LFRs, CFRs, registered Private Forests, and Gazetted Community Forests). The format of the register, given in Table 1, shall be posted on the FMI website and in the National Forest Management Information System (NFMIS), and updated as the status of the items in the register change.
Table 1: Register of Forest Reserves
A: Status of the Forest (tick or fill in as appropriate)
B: STATUS OF Management (tick or fill in as appropriate)
Source: National Forestry and Tree Planting Regulations, 2016, Schedule 2
Instruction 69: FR maps shall be drawn and maintained in the form of Boundary Plan Maps. In the case of FRs that are not yet demarcated, a sketch map shall be prepared.
Instruction 70: In the case of amendments to an existing FR, a revised draft gazette notice shall be prepared by the Ministry. If the amendment involves a change of boundaries, a revised map and boundary description shall be prepared and shown in the amendment.
Instruction 71: Section 7(1(c) of Forestry Act obliges the Minister to carry out an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) before declaring a CFR. This shall be preceded by preparation of a Strategic Environment Atlas (SEA) as CFRs often traverse varieties of landscapes and a SEA is supposed to be prepared before and/or during decision making.
Ministry of Water, Lands, and Environment, 2001. The Uganda Forestry Policy, 2001 ↩︎