A group of conservationists and enthusiastic staff of NFA and Akright turned up heavily and ascended the hillsides, braving the drizzle that persisted after the down-pour and planted trees as if they were responding to a divine call. Dressed in white and green-collared t-shirts the staff of National Forestry Authority led by Laban Mawungwe passionately recited their slogan; “Forests for prosperity” at each stopping point.
They started with Namulanda technical Institute where they planted over twenty avocado trees. Their host Alex Kamukama of Akright pointed out that trees were important for wealth because they contribute to the generation of income and keep people healthy since they provide fresh air.
Apart from the twenty avocadoes that were planted at Namulanda and a mvule that was handed over to the Director, the rest of the trees were planted at 1,000 acre Kakungulu estate, which is run by Akright. The planting of trees at Kakungulu was timely since environmentalists warn of devastating winds from Lake Victoria, which could easily blow away roof-tops.
The estate is a short distance away from the lake and between lake-shore and the estate, where some residents have cut away trees. The team also planted pine trees that will in future become giant green walls sheltering the houses from such dangers.
Akright has supported government to kick-start the fight to plant trees. Attempting to plant trees has remained elusive. At the time of creating NFA, a sister organization the District Forestry Services that was supposed to oversee the planting and management of trees and forests on private land did not take-off until recently.
The District Forestry services is still too meek to assert itself partly because of poor funding and scanty political support at the districts whose leaders do not appreciate the roles of foresters. So NFA has stepped into the shoes of DFS by creating partnerships with organizations like Akright. NFA has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with World Vision, a global non-governmental organization to work together and establish tree nurseries in the 27 districts where the charity is working.
At Kakungulu estate, tree-planting activities coincided with the ninth anniversary of Akright Projects Limited. The 1,000 trees, which NFA donated for planting is part of the 100,000 trees Akright intends to plant as part of the commemoration of Winston Churchill who referred to Uganda as the ‘Pearl of Africa’.
Akright, which is establishing a golf-course below the estate has already planted some of the trees including mahogany and mvule the most valuable hard wood species known in Uganda. The tree-planting expedition also covered the edge of the 100-acre park, which comprises swampy forest and a large pond where canoeing was organized to add diversity to some of the activities that were organized to popularize the tree-planting activity.