Uganda, 26 July 2024 – A multi-agency team composed of the Ministry of Water and Environment, Ministry of Local Government and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) of Uganda came together to assess capabilities and identify trainings needs to jointly respond to forest crime and deforestation in Uganda with support from UNODC.
“Extensive deforestation has been the greatest challenge in the forestry sector,” said James Mununa, Coordinator Law Enforcement and Governance at NFA.
Uganda faces alarming deforestation rates due to illegal logging, unsustainable agricultural practices, urbanization and other factors. This deforestation not only threatens the country's vast biodiversity but also poses severe implications for ecosystem services, human livelihoods, and health.
As one of the implementing partners of the Forest Partnership between the European Union (EU) and the Government of Uganda, which was signed in November 2022, UNODC is providing strategic support and technical assistance through the project “Combating deforestation and forest degradation in Uganda through the criminal justice system,” funded by the EU, aimed at strengthening legal, institutional, and enforcement capacities to ensure the preservation and sustainable management of Uganda's forests for future generations.
In close cooperation with the relevant institutions, UNODC conducted a training needs assessment at national level and in the field to identify the training gaps in skills and knowledge among law enforcement, prosecution and judicial authorities for enhanced detection, investigation and prosecution of forest crimes.
The multi-agency assessment team visited eight Central Forest Reserves (CFRs), seven districts, two conservation areas, the Nyabeya Forestry College and one border post.
Abel Gulu, Regional Customs Supervisor at the border with South Sudan, said that “The challenges faced at the border with the entry and exit of forest products are vast and there is a need for more capacity to verify the timber species, sensitization and joint operations.”
More than 130 officials in the field, including NFA Range and Sector Managers, Supervisors and Patrolmen, District Forest Officers, State Attorneys, Magistrates, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officers, Environmental Police, UPDF, Customs officers and Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) members, participated in the assessment. Among the training needs raised by participants were on forestry regulations, forest protection and management, arrest procedures, exhibits handling, evidence management and data collection and reporting.
“I didn’t understand why people care about trees but now when I see a tree cut, it hurts me,” said the Environmental Police Officer in Arua CFR.
The recommendations from the assessment will provide the groundwork for further collaboration on curriculum design and development and training for different law enforcement institutions, prosecutors and the judiciary, which will be complemented with awareness-raising on the impact of illegal logging, strengthening of the laws, provision of corruption prevention tools tailored for the forestry sector and development of forensic testing of timber in Uganda.
The staff at NFA, which plays a critical role in the protection of CFRs through patrolling, detecting, investigating and prosecuting forest crimes, stressed that the project is very timely. “It is expected that in the absence of the project, deforestation will continue to result in expanded clearance into protected forests thus permanently reducing the available forest habitats for biodiversity of national and global importance such as chimpanzees and other endemic mammals and birds,” said Mr. Mununa.
Click here to learn more about the forest crime programme in Uganda.
Click here to learn more about the Global Programme on Crimes that Affect the Environment
