The government's decision to elevate Bugoma forest protection may mark a policy shift, but it can't easily reverse years of encroachment
NEWS ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | When outgoing Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja recently toured sections of the Bugoma Central Forest Reserve, the roadside canopy of tall green trees initially created the impression of a thriving intact tropical rainforest.
But the illusion quickly faded once she stepped out of her vehicle and moved beyond the roadside strip, where she encountered smouldering charcoal kilns, cleared patches and tree stumps - stark evidence of a forest that conservationists have long warned was under mounting pressure from encroachment and degradation.
"They left a small curtain of trees," Nabbanja later told journalists on May 9. "It's a curtain on the main road. Inside there is no forest."
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
Nabbanja's visit was intended both to assess the scale of destruction and to oversee implementation of President Yoweri Museveni's February directive of transferring management of Bugoma Central Forest Reserve from the Ministry of Water and Environment to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) under the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, with plans to upgrade the forest into a national park.
Speaking during the handover ceremony at Kikuube District headquarters, Nabbanja described the move as part of a renewed effort to protect Uganda's natural heritage.
"This handover reflects our commitment to safeguarding Uganda's natural heritage and ensuring this crucial ecosystem is preserved for generations to come," she said as senior officials from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), district leaders, and local community leaders looked on.
Quoting President Museveni's remarks on the matter, Nabbanja recalled him saying: "I used to fly over Bugoma forest when we had just come from the bush. There was no human settlement. Therefore, all encroachment is reasoned and deliberate, knowing that they are invading government property. They must go."
Bugoma battle is beyond trees
For many conservationists, the government's decision to hand Bugoma over to UWA felt like long-awaited vindication after years of court battles, media campaigns and public pressure. Yet beneath the optimism surrounding the takeover lies a more uncomfortable reality: Bugoma's near collapse unfolded under the watch of the same state that is now positioning itself as the forest's rescuer.
The struggle over Bugoma has evolved into far more than a dispute about trees. It has become a test of Uganda's environmental governance, exposing tensions around land ownership, the influence of commercial agriculture and the future of the country's rapidly shrinking natural forests.
Stretching across roughly 41,000 hectares along the northern edge of the Albertine Rift Valley in midwestern Uganda, Bugoma is one of the country's most biodiverse tropical forests. It is home to an estimated 500 chimpanzees, the endemic Uganda mangabey, hundreds of bird species, elephants and a vast network of plant life that scientists say plays a critical role in climate regulation and rainfall formation.
The forest also sits within an ecologically sensitive corridor linking other protected ecosystems, including Budongo Forest and Semliki National Park. Conservationists and tourism experts have long argued that Bugoma holds enormous ecotourism potential, with chimpanzee trekking, birdwatching and forest tourism capable of generating substantial revenue if properly protected.
But over the past decade, Bugoma increasingly became a symbol not of conservation success, but of institutional weakness and contested land politics. The crisis escalated in 2016 when the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom successfully claimed ownership of approximately 5,700 hectares on the edge of the forest, arguing that the land was ancestral property and not part of the protected reserve. Days later, the kingdom transferred the title to Hoima Sugar Limited, which planned to establish a sugarcane plantation.
The decision sparked outrage among environmental activists, conservation groups and sections of the public. The National Forestry Authority (NFA), the state agency mandated to protect Uganda's forest estate, challenged the allocation in court, arguing that the land formed part of Bugoma Central Forest Reserve. But the High Court dismissed the case in 2016, ruling in favour of the kingdom.
Environmental campaigners including the Water and Environment Media Network, the National Association of Professional Environmentalists and the Africa Institute for Energy Governance also sued the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Hoima Sugar in 2016, contesting the project approvals. They too lost the case on similar grounds.
In 2020, NEMA approved an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) allowing Hoima Sugar to proceed with a mixed use development that included thousands of hectares of sugarcane, an ecotourism site and an urban centre. Bulldozers soon moved into sections of the forest.
For conservationists, the approvals represented one of the most significant environmental governance failures in recent Ugandan history. The Save Bugoma Forest Campaign, a coalition of local communities, civil society organisations and conservation advocates, accused both NEMA and Hoima Sugar of procedural irregularities, selective consultations and ignoring concerns raised by key environmental agencies including UWA and the NFA.
Campaigners argued that only one local community was consulted during the ESIA process despite more than 30 villages surrounding the forest. They also alleged that legally required public hearings were never conducted even though the destruction of Bugoma carried national and transboundary environmental implications.
Bugoma fight exposed contradictions within the state
Despite years of litigation and public outcry, sugarcane expansion around Bugoma continued, laying bare the competing interests within the Ugandan state. Though some government conservation agencies pushed for protection of the forest, other state institutions enabled commercial expansion through land allocations and regulatory approvals.
For that, environmentalists say the Bugoma Forest crisis reflected not simply a policy failure, but a broader struggle between ecological preservation and economic interests tied to politically connected investors. Environmental activists also argue that Bugoma's destruction was neither sudden nor hidden from authorities. For years, satellite imagery, investigative reporting and field assessments consistently pointed to accelerating forest loss and encroachment.
Among the journalists who persistently documented the crisis was Gerald Tenywa of The New Vision, who has reported on Bugoma for more than two decades. In 2019, he produced a nine-part investigative series examining the pressures facing the forest and warning about the environmental consequences of continued destruction.
"For a long time, this is something which we've been advocating for with journalism," Tenywa told The Independent following the announcement of the UWA takeover. "We gave all the dimensions, the importance of Bugoma, the implications if it is cut down, the legal frameworks and issues connected with Bugoma."
Even so, Tenywa believes the latest intervention may not resolve the conflict easily. Many of those occupying sections of the forest, he noted, have already invested heavily in clearing and cultivating the land. "What is at stake is land which these campers have worked for," he said. "They have invested money in clearing this area. They're not easily going to come out."
That reality now shapes the difficult task facing UWA. The agency's takeover has been welcomed by many conservationists who see UWA as more effective, better resourced and more capable of enforcing protection measures than the NFA, which previously oversaw the reserve.
UWA officials say patrol units, drones and aerial surveillance teams have already been deployed to stop further encroachment. "We are deploying immediately personnel and equipment," said UWA Executive Director Dr James Musinguzi. "All encroachers, all intruders will be arrested and prosecuted according to the law."
Will UWA restore Bugoma to its former state?
Backers of the takeover argue that UWA's track record in managing national parks and wildlife reserves gives Bugoma its best remaining chance of survival. "I think the development, given the circumstances and the context, is a healthy development," Onesmus Mugyenyi, the Deputy Executive Director of the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), told The Independent on May 15. "National parks enjoy a higher level of protection than central forest reserves."
Mugyenyi argues that UWA possesses a stronger institutional structure and greater enforcement capacity than Uganda's increasingly weakened forestry sector, which has faced sharp criticism over staffing shortages, funding constraints and political interference.
But he also cautions that the transfer of Bugoma could expose a deeper governance crisis rather than resolve it. "It sets a bad precedent," he said. "You have other central forest reserves that have remained. It's not that all forest reserves have now been given to UWA. It's only Bugoma."
For Mugyenyi, the larger question is why Uganda's forest reserves became so vulnerable in the first place despite years of donor funding, restoration programmes and environmental policy reforms. "Is changing management the solution?" he asked. "Probably it is not."
That concern is increasingly shared among conservation advocates who welcome the Bugoma takeover while remaining cautious about the politics surrounding it. Some fear the government could eventually formalise protection for only part of the forest while allowing commercially degraded sections to remain under sugarcane cultivation.
Others worry that transforming Bugoma into a national park could heighten tensions with surrounding communities if conservation efforts become heavily militarised without addressing local livelihoods. For communities bordering the forest, Bugoma has always been more than a conservation site. It provides firewood, medicinal herbs, rainfall, water systems and informal livelihoods.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
While some residents have participated in charcoal burning and encroachment, others have resisted commercial destruction and joined conservation campaigns.
"Women are very unhappy that Bugoma forest, from which we used to get free herbs and which brought us rain is being destroyed," Lamla Asasira, a resident neighbouring the forest, said in 2023 as encroachment into the forest intensified. "We are worried that if the forest is not restored and the destruction continues, government will not be able to stop other encroachers and the entire forest will be destroyed."
Conservation versus economic ambition
The politics surrounding Bugoma have also become intertwined with Uganda's broader economic ambitions. During the handover ceremony, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja linked protection of the forest to the country's Tenfold Growth Strategy, a government plan aimed at expanding Uganda's economy to US$500 billion by 2040, with tourism identified as one of the sectors expected to drive that growth. "Protecting Bugoma is therefore a strategic investment," she said.
The argument reflects a growing shift in conservation politics across Africa, where governments increasingly frame environmental protection not as an obstacle to development, but as an economic asset tied to tourism, carbon markets and climate resilience.
Still, Bugoma illustrates how fragile that balance remains. Hoima Sugar promised jobs, infrastructure, schools and hospitals. Conservationists promised ecotourism, ecosystem protection and sustainable development. For years, the state attempted to accommodate both visions simultaneously, producing institutional paralysis and accelerating destruction. Now the government appears to have chosen a side, though whether that decision came too late, remains uncertain.
For now, the government's response is unfolding through UWA patrols, drone surveillance and promises of restoration aroud Bugoma Central Forest Reserve. "We believe UWA will protect the forest and there will be no more illegal activities or encroachment," said Robert Akugizibwe, the Executive Secretary of the Association of Bugoma Forest, in remarks to The Independent on May 14. "Going forward, we see tree cover recovery and more animal and bird species returning to the forest."
