Research consultancy
Deforestation threatens biodiversity, climate and livelihoods (Bala et al., 2007). Deforestation rates in the African Tropics are some of the highest in the world (Achard et al., 2002), and accounted for over 23% of global forest loss between 1990 and 2009 (Houghton, 2012). Deforestation is reported to have increased in several parts of Uganda in the last half-century. Examples include conversion for coffee production around Mt. Elgon in Eastern Uganda (Sassen et al., 2013). Forest loss on protected and private land around Kibale National Park in South- western Uganda is attributed to charcoal production (with preference for old-growth hardwood tropical species), high fuelwood demand by the tea industry, settlement and agricultural expansion (Naughton-Treves et al., 2007). Forest cover has been lost around Bwindi impenetrable forest in South-western Uganda, as a result of agricultural expansion and ambiguous forest boundaries (Twongyirwe et al., 2011). Recently, Ryan et al. (2014) found that population changes are correlated with forest loss along the whole Albertine Rift, but they sampled the region sparsely, excluding protected areas, and only looked at two time points.
There is however evidence of successful forest protection in some National Parks and Forest Reserves by Uganda’s designated forest authorities (e.g., Bwindi impenetrable forest, see Hamilton et al., 2000; Budongo, Wambabya and Bugoma forests—this paper). There are some regions of forest stability and recovery/gain in various parts of the country between 2000 and 2010, according to recent global forest cover change mapping (Hansen et al., 2013).
The Northern Albertine Rift Landscape in Western Uganda is an iconic landscape endowed with the largest natural forests in Uganda (Budongo and Bugoma), with rich biodiversity (Plumptre et al., 2007), and yet it has suffered extensive deforestation. While discourses in local media highlight the prevalence of this deforestation (e.g., Mugerwa, 2011, Namutebi, 2013, Tenywa, 2014), the only published work found is fragmented and limited to Budongo forest (Nangendo, 2005, Nangendo et al., 2007, Mwavu and Witkowski, 2008). Forest loss around Budongo has been reported on private landholdings, and attributed to agricultural expansion, population growth, illegal timber harvesting, unclear land tenure systems and weak forest protection enforcement (Mwavu and Witkowski, 2008). There is however a dearth of information on Bugoma (another large forest in the landscape), and forest corridors in the region. Some studies exist by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other NGOs working on forest loss in the Albertine Rift region, but only in unpublished reports and the methods used in the estimation are not rigorous.
The extent of forest cover change particularly at the landscape- and local-scales around Bugoma and Budongo forests in the last 30 years is not thoroughly understood. Providing unambiguous extents of historical vegetation cover changes could provide the impetus to address local, regional and national needs, and may prove critical for future planning. Efforts on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in the region will be enhanced by establishing the baseline deforestation rates. The focus here is mainly on identifying deforestation rates, and less on its drivers. Contrary to many studies we attempt to recover the time–series of change, rather than just looking at start and end points of the period: this helps to distinguish the deforestation signal from other temporal fluctuations. However, in order to get an unambiguous result it is also necessary to look at spatial patterns.
