CABINET REJECTS MABIRA TAKEOVER.
The Cabinet of Uganda refused to give Mehta 30% of the Mabira forest reserve for sugarcane growing.
According to reports, Lugazi’s Mehta wants 7,000 hectares of Mabira forest reserve, to expand its production of sugarcane.
Mabira is one of the largest forested areas found in the catchment areas of Lakes Kyoga and Victoria. It is also one of the country’s richest forest reserves in biological diversity with a lot of tourism potential mainly eco-tourism.
The Cabinet opposed the proposition of turning part of the forest into a sugarcane plantation, saying Lugazi should rely on out-growers for sugarcane.
They said that alternating the land use of the protected area would threaten institutions that have a mandate to oversee the sustainable use of forests. The advocates Coalition for Development and environment (ACODE), said they would work with the government to secure the virtue of protected areas.
Government evicted encroachers from the reserve a decade ago inorder to protect the forest reserve and to enhance tourism development in Uganda using the natural resources.