By Bisola Adeyemo
An expert at the National Forestry Authority (NFA) has said all Uganda’s forests will vanish if there is no action against illegal logging, charcoal burners, and timber dealers.
National Forestry Authority, John Diisi, who has working in Uganda’s forest department for over 30 years said lack of capacity to monitor and protect them will eventually lead to its vanishing.
Then country’s forest cover has dwindled from around 5 million hectares to less than 1.5 million hectares today, which is about 20% of the same area, Diisi told The Independent in an interview.
Diisi added that in time past, workers in Mabira Central Forest Reserve or any other forest in Uganda would have to walk or ride a motorbike or even drive a car to monitor events in a particular area within the forest reserve.
“If they saw a suspicious path within the forest, they would need to follow it up and eventually find a charcoal and confirm that people are burning charcoal,” he says.
Fortunately, over the time, Diisi has also witnessed the gradual adoption of technology to fight forest destruction. And, it appears, no technology has excited him as much as he has now.
Diisi is today the coordinator of the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Mapping at the National Forestry Authority (NFA). The GIS is now incorporated in a new system called the Natural Resource Information System (NARIS) which can be used to trigger real-time response to any unwanted activity in forests by enforcers.
“This system gives us what the people in the security sector refer to as ‘intelligence.’ I can now monitor a lot of things happening while I am seated in my office,” Diisi says excitedly. The technology can be useful for foresters superintending over hard-to-access reserves such as those located in mountainous, and water-logged or insecure areas.
“With this system, I can look over and monitor the whole of Mabira forest. I am able to show you where they are burning charcoal or cutting trees or cultivating crops. I will then call the on-ground people and point them to particular coordinates where something is going on.”
