Uganda Government Finally Scraps Mabira Rainforest Giveaway

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet In a major victory for Uganda's people, rainforests, environment and ecologically sustainable development aspirations; the Ugandan government has finally scrapped controversial plans to allow Mabira rainforest, one of the country's largest and most important protected area, to be partially cleared for sugar production for biofuels. This may sound slightly familiar, as on a previous occasion it was reported the plan was dead but it came back to haunt us. Statements by the government this time are from the Minister of Finance, other numerous sources and are more firm. Mabira rainforest will remain protected, and a precedent has been set that protected rainforests must not be cleared for biofuel production. This is huge! The "Save Mabira Rainforest Crusade" represents a historical moment in Africa's modern environmental movement; as Ugandans used cell phones and Internet technologies to organize street protests. Ecological Internet has been extremely pleased to lead an international support campaign for Mabira protestors, as nearly two million protest emails were sent by 11,000 network participants (YOU!) from 111 countries. This was the most participation and total messages ever. Sadly, perhaps the biggest factor in the victory was the recent severe flooding throughout Uganda and neighboring countries which were widely reported to have been exacerbated by deforestation. We at Ecological Internet very much desire that seeds from the Mabira rainforest go forth to restore rainforests, development opportunities and peoples' hope. Please continue to take action and to forward messages to grow our reach and effectiveness. Current alerts can be found at http://www.ecoearth.info/alerts/ . g.b. To comment: http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2007/10/victory_uganda_government_fin a.asp ******************************* RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE: ITEM #1 Title: Country Uganda Scraps Controversial Rainforest Plan Source: Copyright 2007, Reuters Date: October 18, 2007 Uganda has agreed to scrap an unpopular plan to give a swath of protected rainforest to a sugar planter, the environment minister said on Wednesday. Maria Mutagamba told Reuters the government had finally rejected a request by the privately owned Mehta Group to destroy a third of Mabira Forest and convert it to sugarcane.

"The idea of sugar growing in Mabira is no longer there. We are looking for money for other land," she said. Uganda's cabinet suspended the proposal by President Yoweri Museveni to give 7,100 hectares (17,540 acres) or nearly a third of Mabira Forest to Mehta's sugar estate in May, following a public outcry. Three people died in violent protests against the plan, including an Indian stoned to death by rioters. Mehta is owned by an ethnic Indian family. "A committee of cabinet was set up to examine the plan but did not get back to us. In the meantime, other land was identified," Mutagamba explained. Critics said razing part of Mabira would have threatened rare species, dried up a watershed for streams that feed Lake Victoria and removed a crucial buffer against pollution of the lake from two industrial towns. Scientists estimate some 20 percent of net global emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change, are the result of deforestation, because trees suck carbon from the atmosphere. Experts say Mabira sinks millions of tonnes of carbon. This was the second time the government has heeded public anger over plans to trash forests -- in May, it withdrew a license to Kenyan company, Bidco, to bulldoze a protected forest on an island in Lake Victoria to plant palm oil. A spokesman for President Museveni, Tamale Mirundi, said new land would have to be secured for the sugarcane. Mutagamba said land had been spotted but the complex, semi- feudal system of land ownership meant the government would have to buy the land itself from small-holders. "We want to encourage investors to do this kind of business. They can't start negotiating with 30,000 farmers." The government is trying to draw up maps of land available to investors in Uganda for sectors like coffee, sugar, manufacturing or tourism that do not encroach on forests. ITEM #2 Title: Govt Finally Drops Mabira Giveaway Source: Copyright 2007, Monitor Date: October 17, 2007 Byline: Enock Mayanja Kiyaga & Emmanuel Gyezaho THE Government has finally dropped plans to give away part of Mabira Forest to the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Ltd, ending months of public apprehension and controversy.

The move will stand out as a sweet victory for environmental activists who have crusaded for months against the giveaway of the forest to the Mehta Industrial family which owns Scoul. Finance Minister Ezra Suruma on Monday announced that the government was abandoning the planned giveaway at a dinner hosted by the President of the Republic of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, in Georgetown, Guyana. "We have committed ourselves to conserving Mabira Forest," Dr Suruma said, stressing that the government is at the forefront of conserving forests. Pressed to substantiate, Dr Suruma said: "There is other land in Uganda suitable for sugarcane growing." Dr Suruma is in the South American country to attend the 2007 Commonwealth Finance Ministers' Meeting (CFFM) on climate change. The conference, which precedes the IMF and World Bank meeting in Washington DC and Chogm in Uganda, is organised by the Commonwealth secretariat to create a platform for member countries from both developed and developing countries sit together to agree on a common position. Water and Environment Minister Maria Mutagamba told Daily Monitor yesterday that if Dr Suruma has spoken, then his word can not be doubted. "If the Minister of Finance is saying that Mabira won't be sold, then that is a fact. He has had the authoritative position of the government." The new government position, she said, is contained in a report by a Cabinet subcommittee that was created to consider the proposal to allocate 7,1000 hectares of the natural rainforest to the Mehta family to expand its sugar estate. Although the report is yet to be discussed in Cabinet, she said, "It is a happy ending, isn't it?" Sporadic riots broke out in the country in April, claiming the lives of one Indian and five Ugandans, over the planned forest giveaway but more than five months later, no official government position had been reached. Last month, Ms Mutagamba told Parliament that no decision had been taken on whether to degazzette or give out part of Mabira to Scoul "or to any other person" because the Cabinet sub-committee was yet to conclude its investigations. Following growing outrage and public hostility over the proposal, several land owners, including the Kabaka of Buganda, offered the Mehta family alternative land on which to expand their sugar estate but the government insisted none would be as cost effective as Mabira. But the Suruma announcement will go miles in soothing tensions over the forest. Shadow Environment Minister Beatrice Anywar Atim, who is the chief campaigner of the Save Mabira Crusade, yesterday commended the government for backtracking on the proposal. "Wow, that is really good news for me and congratulations to the whole country. We must thank the government for listening to the voice of the people," said Ms Anywar, also Kigtum woman MP.

"It would have been a shame to violate what matters to the rest of the world." Focusing on the special theme for the meeting - The Challenges Facing Finance Ministers, Dr Suruma said his ministry had responded vigorously to climate change by re- adjusting the budget to address the flood disaster in northern and eastern Uganda. He said Shs22 billion had been committed to the cause as a supplementary budget to be spent on roads, food, aid and re-settlement. At least 44 finance ministers in the Commonwealth are attending the conference. Speaking at the opening of the meeting, President Bharrat Jadgdeo warned against tropical deforestation as a major way of addressing the issue of climatic change. He noted that deforestation contributes 18 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissionswhich is about the same as the US, the equivalent of India and China combined, and more than a cumulative total of aviation since aviation began. He said in 24 hours, deforestation will release as much carbondioxide into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York. "That climate change demands the attention of global leaders is no longer in doubt," he said. The Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General, Mr Ransford Smith, said Climate change represents, perhaps, the single largest challenge to the world's collective future. He warned that as the world looks for ways to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, it is clear that Finance ministers and global economic institutions have a key contribution to make. The meeting ends today.