Yuka Iwamura the project manager CORE Uganda (left), James Ocaka (center) and other staff of CORE planting a tree at Aleda primary school. Photos by Walter Okot
By Walter Okot
Gulu: A Japanese organization has started a one-year campaign to plant 40,000 trees in an attempt to restore forest cover and fight the effects of climate change.
The Community Road Empowerment (CORE), is a Non-Governmental Organization funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Japan under the project of increasing community resilience through the strengthening of road infrastructure and green work at a tune of USD256,000 (approximately shs 994m).
Yuka Iwamura, Project Manager CORE Uganda said the focus of the project is to increase community resilience through the strengthening of road infrastructure and green work, afforestation, tree nursery establishment, construction of energy-saving technologies, and solid waste management.
“We want social stabilization through employment creation, improvement of the livelihoods of local communities, and protection of the environment,” Iwamura said.
Local people benefit
Priscilla Kugonza, the Project Environmentalist at CORE, said over the year from May 2023, the organization has planted over 21, 000 seedlings in 10 hectares of woodlot in government land in Gulu district, with the support of Kijani Forestry and 9.5 hectares of trees on land belonging to 15 farmers in Awach and Paibona sub-counties.
Among the fruit trees planted are jackfruits, oranges, guavas, and lemons, while the timber and wood trees planted include; musisi, acacia, mahogany, melanie, pines, teaks, and eucalypti among others and a similar project is ongoing in Kitgum district as well.
Kugonza said they established tree nurseries in Aleda and Awach Primary Schools with 30,000 assorted tree seedlings, and trained beneficiaries on nursery establishment and tree planting.
This rainy season, CORE intends to plant more trees on 9.8 hectares and distribute over 30,000 tree seedlings to willing farmers to plant on their land.
This implies that by the end of the project, they would have planted trees on 17.6 hectares (43.5 acres).
“We thank the district for giving us 10 hectares of land for planting trees, the community who donated land, and those that embraced the initiative and planted trees on their land to conserve the environment,” Kugonza said.
Kugonza said they also trained 50 beneficiaries in Awach and Paibona sub-counties to construct 175 and 156 Rocket Lorena energy-saving stoves, respectively. The stoves were made using locally available materials such as grass, clay soil ant hill soil and banana stems.
The organization also gave colored rubbish bins to schools for them to practice how to reduce, reuse and recycle waste.
Energy-stoves to reduce wood fuel
Francesca Atoo, a senior environment officer in Gulu district who doubles as the focal point of the CORE project, said they planted 10 hectares of trees on government land and gave land around the plantation to farmers to grow crops as they maintain the trees from wildfire.
Atoo explained that the initiative will help to conserve the environment as people have cut trees to burn charcoal. She is optimistic that training the community on how to make energy-saving stoves which are in high demand, will reduce the use of wood fuel and destruction of trees.
I encourage people to embrace tree planting on their land so that we can recover our trees,” she said.
James Ocaka, Gulu District Forest Officer, requested the nursery operators to come up with a business plan on how to sustain the project by planting trees on nursery beds, both for sale and free distribution to the community.
Oryem Orik, the Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of Gulu District, commended the officials at CORE for their initiative to restore degraded forest cover, saying it was contributing to overheating and unpredictable weather patterns.
“We request the community to become disciples of the project by planting more trees, training other people so that they can protect their environment and recover trees that were cut down for charcoal,” Orik said.
He also encouraged those who were trained to use the knowledge not only to protect the environment but earn income to improve their welfare.
Jimmy Otira, a resident of Payuta village in Awach sub-county said he is making money by selling energy-saving stoves that he makes.
Otira said the skills he acquired will enable him to train other community members how to make energy-saving stoves.
Valentina Acayo, a resident of Boli Pii in Aleda, Paibona sub-county said that she was trained on how to establish a nursery bed and plant trees.
Some of us have local and acquired skills of raising local tree spices which is more sustaining than venturing in exotic ones.