The grant-financing was announced during the occasion of the high-level visit to Uganda by Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.

During his visit, Commissioner Sinkevičius met Uganda’s President H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and together launched the new EU Forestry programme with Uganda which is based on the extensive experience of the EU in the forestry sector in the country.

‘‘With these milestones which are a demonstration of common aspirations, we envision achieving the European Green Deal's objectives and the Global Gateway – the EU’s sustainable connectivity strategy. This includes enhancing the role of forests in the bio-economy and nurturing our trade flows of wood material,” said Commissioner Sinkevičius.

President Museveni welcomed the new EU support to the sector and offered the Government of Uganda commitment to its successful implementation. “This is a good initiative because it will help us protect our forests and also deal with those who want to encroach on the forests,” said President Museveni.

Commissioner Sinkevičius noted that together with the Government of Uganda, the EU had laid the groundwork for commercial forestry in the country, particularly in the last 15 years, accumulating collective experiences and efforts to identify and implement inclusive solutions that strike a balance between different land uses, reduce deforestation, forest degradation and unsustainable conversion of natural ecosystems.

Commissioner Sinkevičius congratulated Uganda for being among the first five countries in the world to sign a Forest Partnership Agreement with the European Union at the COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, where European Union Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen ratified a Memorandum of Understanding on November 8, 2022.

Following that signing, Uganda successfully developed and validated a Forest Partnership roadmap on June 29, 2023, within the set six months as committed globally. The new Forest programme launched at the State House Entebbe will work through the following key areas:

1. To increase inclusive investments and decent job opportunities for women and men in sustainable forestry and forest-based value chains;

2. To increase forest cover by both decreasing deforestation & forest degradation and promoting forest restoration and community support to preservation efforts;

3. To enhance effectiveness of forest resources governance, protection and management.

The implementation of the new forestry programme through partners: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Ministry of water and Environment (also overall coordinator `of the Forestry Programme and Forest partnership) is closely aligned with the roll-out of the EU Forest Partnership. The Forest Partnership aims to enable forests to fulfil their economic, social, and environmental roles and a common responsibility posed to forests by human, social and development needs.

Background

EU-Uganda Forestry Programme

The Government of Uganda and the EU enjoy a long-standing collaboration in natural` resources management (forestry, water, climate change) for over 30 years but most recently in the past 15 years this collaboration has mainly been in the field of commercial forestry.

The overall EU Forestry programme includes 4 projects:

• Reforestation for Community Prosperity in Eastern Uganda (ReForEst). The purpose is to support rural incomes through commercial tree planting by the private sector. Activities include promotion of agroforestry and promotion of protection of high-value forests. Implementer: AICS Budget: Euro 14 million. Period: Jan 2024 – Dec 2028. Status: Signed and operational
• Combating illegal trafficking of timber. The purpose is to improve the forest management in Uganda by strengthening the criminal justice responses to forest crime. Activities include strengthening the legal framework and improving the capacity to investigate and prosecute forest crime. Implementer: UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Budget: Euro 5 million. Duration Jan 2024 – Dec 2027. Status: Signed and operational
• Job creation around forestry and timber value chain. The purpose is to increase inclusive investments and decent job opportunities for women and men in sustainable forestry and forest -based value chains. Activities include work on access to finance for forest-related companies, support to processing capacity for timber, support to sustainable supply of legal wood raw material. Implementer: FAO.  Budget: Euro 15 million. Duration March 2024 – February 2029 (60 months). Status: Signed and operational
• Forest governance, coordination and policy. The purpose is to enhance the contribution of Uganda’s forests and forest and forest resources to national economic development and to global efforts to address climate change and loss of biodiversity. Activities will include institutional strengthening of National Forestry Authority and the District Forest Services, sustainable forest management and planning, forest boundary demarcation, participatory forest management as well as coordinating the overall forestry programme and managing and reporting on the EU Forest Partnership.  Implementer: Ministry of Water and Environment.

For more information, please contact EU Delegation Press and Information Officer:

Emmanuel Davies Gyezaho : Emmanuel-Davies.Gyezaho@eeas.europa.eu +256 756 719882