Kibale National Park Restoration

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About the Project:

 

Forests Without Borders is supporting a new model for community forestry that not only benefits the local community by providing them much needed fuelwood and employment, but also restores the integrity of a national park, promotes biodiversity recovery by reforesting areas dominated by invasive species, and stores carbon.

 

The project has been launched in Kibale National Park, Uganda, which is home to thirteen species of primates and many endangered species, including chimpanzees, red colobus monkeys, pangolins, and elephants. Before Kibale became a national park, large tracts (more than 200 km2 ) were logged or deforested for agriculture. Restoration is stalled because invasive species inhibit native tree regeneration.

 

The project happens in steps and benefits many different groups:

 

Step 1: Invasive species are removed from the park. This is what the areas look like before we employ community members to remove these species. This is a labor-intensive effort but it provides valuable employment for community members.

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Step 2: Biomass from invasive species removal is delivered to the community who use it as a source of fuel to cook. Normally, the women and children must spend up to an hour a day searching for fuelwood. By making wood locally available it greatly reduces their workload and helps keep children in schools. Girls, in particular, are often pulled from school to help work at home.  

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Step 3: Native trees are grown in local nurseries which provides valuable local employment. The trees are then transplanted to the park.

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After the trees are planted, regeneration is monitored. In the photos below, the left is regeneration after 18 months, while the right is after 20 years, where the contrast between regenerating and old growth forest can be seen. After 20 years, most mammals that are typically found in old-growth forest are also using the younger forest.

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What your help can do:

 

You can help us continue this important work that we have started. We have a long way to go, as there are 200 km2 to restore and the need of local community for employment and fuelwood is great.

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