Rising energy demands, infrastructure expansion, and the booming construction industry are driving the rapid loss of natural forests and the degradation of gazetted river catchment areas across east Acholi, investigations by the Daily Monitor reveal.
In Kitgum, Lamwo, and Agago districts, widespread charcoal burning, sand and gravel extraction, and unsustainable farming practices are stripping the landscape bare, leaving behind degraded riverbanks, eroded hillsides, and barren burrow pits.
A field assessment conducted in July found that major rivers such as Pager, Aswa, Aringa, and Orom, vital lifelines for agriculture and domestic use, have been severely affected by siltation and encroachment.
East Acholi’s terrain, once known for its lush forests, rolling hills, and clean rivers, is increasingly being transformed by human activity. While some areas remain under protection – including Orom and Ogili Central Forest Reserves (CFRs) – most lie on private land and are subject to uncontrolled exploitation.
Rivers such as Pager and Aringa, which feed into the Aswa Catchment Management Area under the Ministry of Water and Environment, are losing their ecological balance due to encroachment and poor land use.
According to the Kitgum District Development Plan (2021-2025), natural resources have been steadily degraded.
‘People are cultivating inside riverbanks and penetrating wetlands during the dry season to plant rice and vegetables. As a result, most major rivers are now silted,’ the document notes.
Deforestation, driven mainly by commercial charcoal production, poor farming practices, and human settlement, continues at an alarming pace of about 1.8 percent annually.
Kitgum District alone has 30,704 hectares of central forest reserves under the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and 16 hectares of local forest reserves managed by the district. Mr Martin Anywar, the Kitgum District forestry officer, says all five local forest reserves in the district have been affected.
‘One of the reserves sits right in a division of Kitgum Municipality – the division headquarters and a market are now inside the reserve,’ he said.
At Labongo-layamu Local Forest Reserve, land was erroneously allocated to developers as ‘vacant,’ while Matidi Local Forest Reserve is now 100 percent encroached on.
To counter this, Kitgum authorities have tried sensitising communities on tree planting and enforcing regulations against illegal logging.
A government-led conservation project through Nema has also promoted the sustainable use of threatened savanna woodland species such as shea (Vitellaria paradoxa), establishing shea butter mills and beehives in Omiya-anyima and Orom sub-counties. Data show that Kitgum’s forest cover has plummeted from 20.7 percent in 1986 to 13.3 percent in 2002, with only marginal recovery since then. ‘Encroachment rates on local forest reserves stand between 50 and 97 percent,’ Mr Anywar said.
The Amuru dilemma
In neighbouring Amuru District, the NFA continues to struggle against aggressive community encroachment and illegal charcoal production. The main challenge stems from the delay in reopening forest reserve boundaries after residents resettled following the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency nearly two decades ago.
As a result, more than 1,000 acres of forest reserve land, particularly in Keyo, Wii-Ceri, and Labala, have been lost, with about 60 percent of tree cover depleted due to settlement, farming, and logging. Attempts to demarcate reserve boundaries have sparked violent resistance.
In 2019, residents of Keyo in Lamogi Sub-county blocked the NFA’s demarcation of Keyo CFR, and the following year, NFA personnel torched seven houses allegedly built inside Wi-Ceri Forest Reserve.
Amuru District chairperson Michael Lakony blamed NFA’s ‘inactive’ presence for the worsening situation.
‘They are often seen along the Juba highway but not in areas like Wii-ceri and Labala, where the actual destruction is happening,’ he said.
The Pabbo Local Forest Reserve, once covering eight hectares, has been completely lost.
‘When I visited it three years ago, there wasn’t a single tree left,only houses and crops,’ said Ms Paska Kerren Alanyo, the district forestry officer. She said the district hosts six central forest reserves under NFA and more than nine local reserves, all heavily encroached on.
‘We’ve written to NFA requesting boundary reopening, but underfunding makes our operations ineffective. Restoring these reserves would require evicting people, a costly and politically sensitive process,’ she said.
Charcoal trade devastates tree cover
Commercial charcoal production has ravaged entire villages in Amuru, including Coro, Aker, Luro, Apaa, Goro B, Kalacut, Acut, Zoka, and Kamdini.
In previously intact areas such as Acholi-ber, Gaji, Oyanga, and Rwot-Oromo near Zoka CFR, dealers have cleared large tracts.
Despite President Museveni’s Executive Order No. 3 of May 2023, which banned commercial charcoal trade in northern Uganda, enforcement has been inconsistent.
Since then, charcoal business in Acholi has nearly doubled, driven by weak enforcement and the lucrative profits involved.
Uganda’s demand for forest products continues to outstrip sustainable supply. The country needs 1.8-2 million hectares of plantation forests to balance its timber and energy needs but currently has only 120,000 hectares. According to the Ministry of Water and Environment, forest cover on private land has dropped dramatically – from 3.3 million hectares in 1990 to just 0.7 million in 2015.
Nationally, central forest reserves under NFA now cover about 1.26 million hectares, or 64 percent of Uganda’s permanent forest estate, while the Uganda Wildlife Authority manages the rest.
However, NFA’s 2025-2030 Corporate Strategic Plan acknowledges persistent challenges – population growth (3.3 percent annually), rising demand for agricultural land, construction materials, and energy, as well as corruption and refugee settlement pressures.
‘The refugee population, estimated at 1.8 million by 2025, adds to land pressure, challenging the protection of forest estates,’ the plan states. Between 2020/21 and 2024/25, NFA resurveyed and demarcated 4,766 km of forest boundaries, about 49 percent of the total 9,755km, and protected 1.19 million hectares (94 percent) of forest reserves from illegal activities through law enforcement patrols.
Efforts toward restoration
To replenish forest cover in Acholi, NFA has established nurseries producing indigenous and commercial species such as shea, teak (Tectona grandis), Mvule (Milicia excelsa), and Warburgia ugandensis – a rare medicinal tree.
These seedlings are distributed for community planting and rehabilitation of degraded reserves. But encroachment remains a pressing threat.
‘Vast areas in Acholi have been taken up for farming, settlement, and charcoal burning,’ said Mr Aldon Walukamba, the NFA communications and public relations manager.
‘Over the last decade, thousands of hectares of central forest reserves have been threatened, with hotspots in Lira, Gulu, and Amuru,’ he said.
Recent eviction operations, he said, have reclaimed more than 160,000 hectares of encroached land, restoring forest cover by about 12 percent and reaffirming government control. These interventions have included demolishing illegal structures, removing farms, and cancelling unlawful land allocations.
Background
Forest cover then and now
1990: 4.9 million hectares
2015: 1.8 million hectares
2024: 1.6 million hectares
(Source: Ministry of Water and Environment)
Forest cover in Acholi
1986: 20.7 percent
2002: 13.3 percent
2024: Estimated below 10 percent.
Main drivers
Commercial charcoal production.
Agricultural expansion.
Timber and construction material extraction.
Unregulated human settlements.