Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja signed the roadmap on behalf of Uganda while Mr. Guillaume Chartrain, the deputy EU Ambassador to Uganda signed on behalf of the EU.
KAMPALA – The government of Uganda and the European Union (EU) have signed a commitment for the implementation of the forest restoration project geared at protecting Uganda’s declining forest cover.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja signed the roadmap on behalf of Uganda while Mr. Guillaume Chartrain, the deputy EU Ambassador to Uganda signed on behalf of the EU.
During the signing of the new Forest Partnership Roadmap between Uganda and the EU, the delegation promised to keep helping Uganda recover its lost forest cover.
The EU deputy ambassador said the signing was in fulfillment of the promise made by the European Union during COP26 in Glasgow to partner nations in their efforts to protect, restore, and sustainably manage forests globally and respect the Paris Agreement goals.
The EU and the government signed the forest partnership in November last year on the sidelines of the 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Egypt.
“Together, we have laid the groundwork for commercial forestry in Uganda, leading to years of collective effort to identify and implement inclusive solutions that strike a balance between different land uses, reduce deforestation, forest degradation, and conversion of natural ecosystems,” Chartrain added.
He noted that it is a concrete example of the EU and Team Europe’s conviction that in supporting engaged partners, it is possible to combine development and investments with protection of the biodiversity and curbing climate change.
In addition to boosting the role of forests in the bio-economy and fostering the trade flows of wood material, Chartrian emphasized that with the partnerships in place, they saw themselves accomplishing the goals of the European Green Deal and the Global Gateway, the EU’s strategy for sustainable connectivity.
He pointed out that the Ugandan government, through the Ministry of Water and Environment, and the EU delegation in Kampala, had put in a significant amount of work to make this agreement a concrete reality and to define the specifics.
“Together, we strive to ensure sustainable forest management by improving forest governance and fostering a conducive business environment. We aim to stimulate the forest bio-economy, creating jobs and socioeconomic development through sustainable forest-related value chains and market access,” he added.
He added that the roadmap has been carefully constructed around several key objectives including sustainable forest management, fostering job creation through the forest value chains, curbing deforestation, and facilitating trade in legal and sustainable wood products between partner countries and the EU.
New data from the UN showed this week that Africa lost around 14,000 square miles of tree cover in 2022.
The development also comes a day after the National Policy Committee on Environment moved to implement a presidential directive banning timber exports
Prime Minister Nabbanja noted that the forest partnership roadmap is very important as the country struggles to end deforestation, adding that the five-year roadmap is a commitment to the government’s objective to stop and reverse forest loss and degradation.
She said it disgusting that widespread deforestation is still practised throughout the nation while the timber is exported just to be imported once more as finished furniture items at exorbitant prices.
She said the president ordered that only factories processing timber within the country for plywood boards, furniture, and other products should be allowed to operate, and must have a sustainable harvesting plan that “when a tree is cut, two or three are planted as a practice to sustainably protect and conserve the environment.
She wondered why the National Forest Authority (NFA) has to wait for the EU to embark on forest restoration.
The state minister for water and environment, Beatrice Anywar stated that by meeting the partnership’s goals, the government will be able to realize the goals set forth in the various development strategies, including the ten-year restoration plan for 2021 to 2031.
She said this will deepen cooperation in the field of protection, restoration, and sustainable use of forests.
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