From All Africa.

Norway has promised to continue supporting Uganda with increased funding for forest restoration, environmental management and conservation as part of its micro-development projects there, according to a report in All Africa.

Uganda loses about 250,000 acres of forest each year through encroachment, the report said. Demand for timber is high in neighboring urban areas with encroachers using it for their livelihood.

Thorbjorn Gaustadsaether, Norwegian ambassador to Uganda, led a restoration campaign at Lwamunda Central Forest Reserve Wednesday.

“Environment issues are each and every one’s concern and therefore call for a concerted effort in preventing the likely impact of climate change in the country,” Gaustadsaether said in the report.

More than 80 percent of the 11,600-acre national forest has been destroyed, according to the report. About 24 acres were restored Wednesday through tree planting by Uganda’s National Forest Authority and the Norway-Uganda Friendship Association.

Ismail Mugweri, a county secretary of finance, planning and education, said the forest at Lwamunda was destroyed because of poverty and lack of information about the importance of forests by the community, the report said.

“Until five years ago, this forest used to be a very big, thick forest,” Mugweri said. “However, people started cutting trees at night for timber and charcoal for sale.”

Read more at All Africa.