European Union Heads of missions to Uganda were last week on a four-day Joint mission in the Western and Northern regions of Uganda.
The heads of Mission included Attilio Pacifici, EU Head of delegation; Jules-Armand Aniambossou, the French ambassador to Uganda, Veestraeten Rudi (Belgium), Matthias Schauer (Germany), Massimiliano Mazzanti (Italy), Per Lindgärde (Sweden), Nicolaj Hejberg Petersen (Denmark) and Dr. Roswitha Kremser (Austria).
The assessment mission took place from the 2nd to the 5th of November 2020.
The key ambition of the mission was to promote dialogue between key stakeholders on the need to strike a balance between Uganda’s development needs and the conservation of its endangered natural heritage.
The Heads of Mission visited Bugoma central forest reserve in Hoima district, Murchison falls national park, Zoka central forest reserve in Adjumani district and Maaji refugee settlement Adjumani district.
Attilio Pacifici, the EU Ambassador to Uganda, emphasized the need for the Government to protect and preserve natural resources.
At an engagement with Government officials, activists and Bunyoro Kingdom Officials in Hoima district, Ambassador Pacifici raised concern about the leasing of part of Bugoma forest to Hoima Sugar Company and the Government’s plan to construct a multi-billion-dollar Hydro-electric power plant in Murchison falls national park.
The Bunyoro Kitara premier Andrew Byakutaga during a meeting with the Heads of Mission affirmed the Kingdom's commitment to protecting and conserving its rich natural heritage including Bugoma Forest.
The Austrian head of office Dr. Roswitha Kremser urged Government to strike a balance between development and environmental conservation.
“Forests have diverse ecosystem, but now that we see that the forests bio-diversity being threatened I think it is very important to discuss the mitigation measures and what can we do more on a local level and central level”, said Per Lingarde, the Swedish Ambassador to Uganda.
At Zoka central forest reserve, the EU team was joined by Gen. Moses Ali, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Beatrice Anywar, the state minister for water and environment.
Zoka is a tropical forest located in Itirikwa sub-county in Adjumani.
It is a crucial water catchment area for River Nile in the West Nile and Northern regions of Uganda.
The forest serves as a critical biodiversity area being the only tropical high forest in northern Uganda and home to the flying squirrels.
Gen. Ali, who re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to conserve and protect the environment, read from a prepared statement a raft of measures to stop the destruction of Zoka.
The 10-point measures included the suspension of commercial production of charcoal and the cancellation of licenses for forest product harvesting.
Gen. Ali said urgent action to protect the forests must be taken but with the anticipation of repercussion.
He said this was part of a memorandum of understanding with 10 action points prepared by the leaders of Adjumani and the Friends of Zoka. Biodiversity conservation was cited by EU ambassadors among the critical factors in the attainment of the sustainable development goals.
The EU heads of missions also met youth representatives from different parties in Northern Uganda and discussed issues pertaining to the upcoming General elections.
They were impressed with the political maturity of the youth and urged the senior colleagues to do the same.
