Kampala — A new report released by a British researcher, Benjamin Singer, on Budongo forest is a bombshell. "Some of the foresters are collaborators in these illegal activities and it is done right from Forestry Department headquarters, not here in Masindi," the report says.

Singer's report on the 800 square kilometre rain-forest, the largest in the country, was published in September. It comes after the Forestry authorities refuted The New Vision special report, which said forest rangers in Masindi were conniving with the illegal loggers.

"They come here and spend time with pitsawyers with whom they are intimate. I don't want to single out one person or two, but it has been happening and it has been encouraging illegal pitsawing," adds the report.

But the forestry commissioner, D.N Byarugaba, in an interview with The New Vision rubbished the claims in the report, saying they were mere allegations.

Singer's report entitled, "The road to sustainable Mahogany trade in Uganda," was compiled after a two-month study in several villages around Budongo. It quotes authoritative sources within the Forest Department and Masindi Pitsawyers and Wood Users Association who preferred to remain anonymous.

Conservationists fear that the excessive logging of Mahogany will have damaging consequences on endangered species. In a recently concluded- study, researchers also indicate that the Nahan's Francholin, an endangered bird species, will be a casualty.

Sande Eric, a researcher with Nature Uganda, a local NGO, says the Nahan's Francholin roost in the buttresses of Mahogany. "They are tourist attractions. But their habitats are becoming degraded," he says.

He says illegal logging in the strict nature reserves (mother trees in such areas are left for scientific studies) is disastrous.

"This means the invaluable wild flora and fauna in such areas, some of which have not been described, are being destroyed," Sande says.

Why is Budongo a big deal? Birdlife International recently declared it an important bird area and the World Wide Fund for Nature classified it among one of the 200 most valuable ecological regions worldwide, says Singer.

It also harbours over 300 bird species, 600 chimpanzees and 866 plant species, 419 butterflies and moths. But illegal logging, charcoal burning and encroachment threaten it.

The on-going conference in Santiago, Chile, of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has proposed to list Mahogany under Appendix two, making it a protected species. This implies that trade in mahogany would be restricted and CITES permits would be required before export or import.

According to the Forest Department, Mahogany is an endangered tree and a ban was three years ago imposed on its felling.

Budongo is currently the largest source of Mahogany in the country and indiscriminate harvesting of hardwood in the forest is attracting national and international concern. The report points out that the south-western border is affected by encroachment.

"This is mainly due to tobacco farming and sugarcane plantations belonging to Kinyara Sugar Works, the largest sugar producer in the area," Singer's report says.

However, the report says the greatest threat to the forest is the unsustainable selective harvesting of hardwood species, especially Mahogany.

The report warns that the unchecked harvesting is driving the hardwood species of Budongo to extinction.

Over-extraction is the first step towards forest clearance, says the report. "Logging personnel are frequently involved in poaching and wildlife trade, resulting in the depletion of wildlife populations," the report adds.

Pitsawyers create paths in the forest, which facilitates access to other resources such as firewood, timber and charcoal, Singer argues in the report.

Eventually, forests depleted of their marketable resources may be cleared for crop production, the report says.

The report also says the archaic style of protecting forests by denying people tangible benefits is behind the anarchy unfolding in Budongo.

He also blames poor regulation on timber extraction. He says the restrictive regulations with series of bans and increases in timber royalties, have led to the mahogany trade to thrive underground.