198
C. Nabukalu and R. Giere
Southern parts of the country. Branch and Martiniello (2018) further
observed that charcoal is increasingly produced in Northern Uganda,
which was not the case a decade ago, leaving vast areas of land and forests
degraded. During our fieldwork, however, we did not find clear-cutting
as a means of obtaining trees for charcoal. At some sites, the land was
being repurposed for small-scale agriculture, and thus, the primary goal
of cutting trees was to sustain the low-laying cash and food crops, such
as rice, which cannot thrive under shade (Kome island, Mukono district,
Fig. 6.1), or cassava, which was protected by removing habitats for pests,
e.g. monkeys (from the neighbouring Murchison Falls National Park,
Nwoya district).
The above observations, however, do not mean that charcoal production does not occur over large areas. In their spatial study of a range
of various scenarios for Uganda, Namaalwa, Hofstad, and Sankhayan
(2009) found that charcoal production is occurring faster than the regrowth of the vegetation, which thus may lead to an environmental
crisis. Even so, Chidumayo and Gumbo (2013) were reluctant to link
this practice to deforestation, because they stated that charcoal production takes up less than 7% of tropical forests in Africa. Highlighting
the natural regeneration of trees as a critical factor in the replenishment of vegetation, Chidumayo and Gumbo (2013) further suggested
that good post-harvest management sustains forests and, whereas charcoal production may degrade ecological systems, deforestation was not
a consequence of the practice. For charcoal production as a primary
activity, deforestation, as defined by Bromley and Reis (1999), i.e. the
intentional and permanent transformation of forests to other uses, or
clear-cutting with plans to regenerate them, may not occur at a large
scale. However, during our fieldwork, we found that in some locations,
deforestation may occur in order to use the land for agriculture, thereby
creating opportunities for charcoal production as a secondary activity,
which uses disposed logs rather than trees felled specifically as charcoal
resources. Moreover, the continuous supply of charcoal (Ekpo & Mba,
2020), which floods the urban markets, represents a high vegetation loss,
since most of it is produced from trees.
Nonetheless, despite the fact that we observed tree regeneration
(Fig. 6.2d) near the Naminato bridge of the Nwoya district (Fig. 6.1),
tree-harvesting practices were unsustainable and included the use of oiled
C. Nabukalu and R. Giere
Southern parts of the country. Branch and Martiniello (2018) further
observed that charcoal is increasingly produced in Northern Uganda,
which was not the case a decade ago, leaving vast areas of land and forests
degraded. During our fieldwork, however, we did not find clear-cutting
as a means of obtaining trees for charcoal. At some sites, the land was
being repurposed for small-scale agriculture, and thus, the primary goal
of cutting trees was to sustain the low-laying cash and food crops, such
as rice, which cannot thrive under shade (Kome island, Mukono district,
Fig. 6.1), or cassava, which was protected by removing habitats for pests,
e.g. monkeys (from the neighbouring Murchison Falls National Park,
Nwoya district).
The above observations, however, do not mean that charcoal production does not occur over large areas. In their spatial study of a range
of various scenarios for Uganda, Namaalwa, Hofstad, and Sankhayan
(2009) found that charcoal production is occurring faster than the regrowth of the vegetation, which thus may lead to an environmental
crisis. Even so, Chidumayo and Gumbo (2013) were reluctant to link
this practice to deforestation, because they stated that charcoal production takes up less than 7% of tropical forests in Africa. Highlighting
the natural regeneration of trees as a critical factor in the replenishment of vegetation, Chidumayo and Gumbo (2013) further suggested
that good post-harvest management sustains forests and, whereas charcoal production may degrade ecological systems, deforestation was not
a consequence of the practice. For charcoal production as a primary
activity, deforestation, as defined by Bromley and Reis (1999), i.e. the
intentional and permanent transformation of forests to other uses, or
clear-cutting with plans to regenerate them, may not occur at a large
scale. However, during our fieldwork, we found that in some locations,
deforestation may occur in order to use the land for agriculture, thereby
creating opportunities for charcoal production as a secondary activity,
which uses disposed logs rather than trees felled specifically as charcoal
resources. Moreover, the continuous supply of charcoal (Ekpo & Mba,
2020), which floods the urban markets, represents a high vegetation loss,
since most of it is produced from trees.
Nonetheless, despite the fact that we observed tree regeneration
(Fig. 6.2d) near the Naminato bridge of the Nwoya district (Fig. 6.1),
tree-harvesting practices were unsustainable and included the use of oiled