IRREPLACEABLE
E C H U YA F O R E S T, U G A N D A
INVESTING IN PEOPLE
Being given access to credit has transformed the lives of rural Ugandans - empowering them
to invest in their futures
by Dianah Nalwanga
F
home and three kept for next season.
As well as local livelihoods,
NatureUganda also helped to safeguard
people’s land, offering training and
support in in soil and water conservation.
Communities constructed trenches
across their gardens to prevent soil
erosion, stabilizing the banks with plants
which both bind the soil, and provide
fodder for animals. “With the availability
of fodder in my garden, I was inspired
to start a zero-grazing project,” says
Nyiradekeye. “I used part of the money
from the sale of potatoes to pay back the
loan, and purchased a cow and calf with
the remaining funds. Currently, I use the
trees and grass in my garden to feed the
animals, and the cow dung as organic
fertilizer”. Empowered by enterprises
like these, local people now have the
resilience to face the future without
drawing on the forest’s finite resources.
Seseriya and her cows
Photo Nature Uganda
I
B A
F A C
T
F
I
L
E
or many years, rural
communities living around
Echuya Forest Reserve in
southwestern Uganda were
stuck in a cycle of poverty. In hard times
they were often forced to encroach
upon the protected forest to survive. We
found that access to credit was one of
the main constraints preventing people
from pursuing enterprises that would
lift them out of poverty. In response
to this predicament, NatureUganda
helped to set up a series of small Village
Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs),
injecting some seed money to kick-start
community enterprises.
In 2012, Mrs Seseriya Nyiradekeye
was encouraged to join the VSLA in her
village. She used her investment to buy
three sacks of potato seeds, which she
planted. She subsequently harvested 26
sacks, of which 21 were sold, two used at
ECHUYA FO REST
LOCATION: Southwestern Uganda
TYPE: Montane forest, high-altitude
swamp
SIZE: 3,600 hectares
KEY SPECIES: Grauer’s Swamp-warbler,
Handsome Francolin, Ruwenzori Batis
WHAT MAKES IT A HOME
At the centre of a narrow valley
surrounded by steep forested hillsides
lies a permanent high-altitude swamp,
which drains into the Murindi River. This
mosaic of habitats supports diverse
species including the rare Delany’s
Swamp Mouse.
ANY THREATS?
The expansion of dairy farming around
the fringes of the swamp has threatened
the reserve in the past. Today, local
poverty is the most pressing concern, as
the rural poor often resort to harvesting
forest resources.
WHAT IS BEING DONE?
Village Savings and Loan Associations
(VSLAs) have been set up to finance
sustainable businesses such as potato
growing and zero-grazing cattle farming.
FOCAL PARTNER
OCT-DEC 2019 • BIRDLIFE
Regal Sunbird Cinnyris
regius in moult
Photo Sharp Photography
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