**2.4.3 Community forest committees**

A major drawback to the CFM programme was the lack of a recognizable and well informed body who will liaise with the FSSD and the forest fringe communities to ensure that their aspirations, knowledge and needs from forest resources and forest management is expressed and realized. To this end, Community Forest Committees are being formed to: (a) permanently represent the forest fringe communities on forest management issues at the

Collaborative Forest Management in Uganda:

to improving forest management.

**2.4.4 Forest fires protection** 

operations.

**2.4.5 Forest rehabilitation** 

and assist communities to plant trees on their farms.

communities are given contracts to perform such duties.

**2.4.6 Boundary cleaning and patrolling** 

Benefits, Implementation Challenges and Future Directions 61

national level and to improve upon the knowledge and capacity for collaboration at the local level; (b) enhance and encourage widespread participation in forestry matter especially those that will affect the communities; (c) mobilize wide stakeholder awareness and participation in the forest management planning process; (d) educate and assist in the development of social responsibility agreements; and (e) monitor the implementation of the social responsibility agreements. Specifically, participating communities will play important roles and responsibilities at the national, regional, district and local levels. At the national, regional and district levels the partners will: (i) participate in forest policy review and formulation; (ii) prepare proposals to promote the welfare of communities through forest resources management; and (iii) make general recommendations on forestry that will lead in

Over the past decade most forest reserves and off reserves in Uganda have been experiencing annual forest fires. The communities are therefore expected to help in preventing and fighting forest fires in their community. This is done through: (i) planting green fire belts along the forest boundary; (ii) education of local communities on the dangers of fire and fire management especially during the dry seasons; (iii) formation of fire volunteer squads; and (iv) development and enforcement of by-laws to protect fire and sanctioning forest offenders. In addition to this collaboration, participating communities can suggest measures to conserve forest resources in their locality. They will also be responsible for encouraging and supporting the arrest and reporting of offenders to the FSSD, NFA and/or the police. In line with their protective functions, participating communities under CFM are encouraged to check the permits of people they suspect to be engaging in illegal

The taungya system has been the main way in which communities were traditionally involved in forest management. A review of the past taungya system was done and this helped to inform the development of pilot programs. The review also helped the FSSD to develop new strategies and systems for forest rehabilitation called "the modified taungya system. In 2001 the government of Uganda lunched plantation activities as one of its poverty reduction strategies. In the modified taungya and plantation development programme, CFM and forest fringe communities are expected to: (a) assist in the identification of degraded portions of the forest for rehabilitation; (b) establish nurseries from which the FSSD will obtain seedlings for forest rehabilitation; (c) undertake forest rehabilitation activities such as tree planting, transplanting, tree tending operations; and (d) encourage

The boundaries of the forest reserve are cleaned to ensure that farms are not extended to the reserves. In addition, it ensures that wildlife in the forest do not enter into the farms of those who share a common boundary with the forest reserve. Most often, NFA use the forest guards to patrol and clean the forest boundary at regular intervals. Currently local


Table 1. Management arrangements, characteristics and how they affect collaborative approaches in Uganda

national level and to improve upon the knowledge and capacity for collaboration at the local level; (b) enhance and encourage widespread participation in forestry matter especially those that will affect the communities; (c) mobilize wide stakeholder awareness and participation in the forest management planning process; (d) educate and assist in the development of social responsibility agreements; and (e) monitor the implementation of the social responsibility agreements. Specifically, participating communities will play important roles and responsibilities at the national, regional, district and local levels. At the national, regional and district levels the partners will: (i) participate in forest policy review and formulation; (ii) prepare proposals to promote the welfare of communities through forest resources management; and (iii) make general recommendations on forestry that will lead in to improving forest management.
