KAGADI – WWF in Uganda and Bunyoro Kingdom have flagged off a much sought-after campaign that will see both institutions support the establishment of woodlots in schools across the Albertine Region.
Presiding over the commemoration of the 2024 Earth Hour held in Kagadi District on Wednesday, Andrew Kirungi Byakutaga Ateenyi, the Prime Minister of Bunyoro Kingdom said the kingdom will work with its network of County Chiefs to bolster conservation efforts in schools.
“The Kingdom was the pioneer and continues to promote education with schools and educational institutions,” he said, imploring all the citizens of Bunyoro Kingdom to consider environmental conservation.
The Woodlots project seeks to create environmental awareness and stewardship among learners increase tree cover in schools and promote the use of energy-efficient technologies in schools.
97 schools within the Albertine Region have been selected as the initial cohort. Officials said the programme will be extended to other schools across the country by providing shade, and firewood among fruits.
Agneta Winther, the Chief Operations Officer at WWF said that schools having their own woodlots in the backyard would reduce encroachment on gazzated land.
“An average school in Uganda needs at least three trucks of firewood a week to meet the cooking energy needs. With over 22,500 primary schools and 2000 secondary schools alone, this puts our forest sector and the environment specifically under a big threat,” said Ms. Winther.
“WWF Uganda has decided this year to use the Earth Hour to shed light on the really big crisis of deforestation we currently face in Uganda, one of the reasons being cooking fuel for school. So we use this opportunity to focus on this problem with the schools in Uganda that are consuming lots of wood for firewood,” she explained.
“We want to do this year is to ask the schools to plant at least one acre of woodlots for them to be self-sustainable in terms of fuel for cooking, but also to keep the environment in the school nice and clean and cold, so we can avoid ending up in a situation like in South Sudan where they had to close the schools because it was so hot,” added Ms. Winther.
Mr. Winther also urged Ugandan authorities to support technologies for clean cooking, especially in schools.
“We also want to encourage the government to support techniques for clean cooking, because that’s also a very big factor that can contribute to minimizing the deforestation related to to fuel goods in schools.
Retired Bishop Nathan Bakyenga Kyamanywa called for restrictions on cutting fruit trees.
“I am just thinking aloud, if we put some restrictions on which tree is cut down and which one is retained, it will reduce the rate at which these trees are being felled,” he said in an interview.
“You’ll find a person cutting down a huge mango tree that can even feed the whole village and there is no punishment for such a person, he wondered.
As a measure to ensure the sustainability of the project, Benjamin Tumusiime, the Deputy RDC for Kagadi urged head teachers to involve the whole school community including management, teachers, students, and staff in project activities.
Background
Traditional biomass fuels, such as firewood and charcoal, have long been the primary sources of energy for cooking in schools and households across Uganda. However, the reliance on these resources presents numerous challenges, including environmental degradation, health hazards, and financial strain on institutions.
According to data presented during the launch, Uganda’s annual demand for biomass energy exceeds its supply, leading to increased costs and environmental concerns.
Moreover, cooking with biomass fuels poses health risks and contributes to carbon emissions, exacerbating climate change.
