Kikonda Forest Reserve

Ugandan Environment Minister, Maria Mutagamba (middle), and the German Embassador (right) handing over the best-planter-award to the founder of global-woods international in 2007.

The project

In 2002 we were invited by the Ugandan Ministry of Environment to reforest the Kikonda Forest Reserve. Since then, more than 8 million trees had been planted, covering an area larger than 10,000 soccer fields. In 2010, the project was sold, and is currently managed by a local family business (Nile Fibreboards). Until 2022, global-woods international assisted the project in the promotion and sale of carbon credits.

Project Start 2002
Certification according to
GoldStandard, FSC

Impact

Most of the timber in Uganda still comes from uncontrolled logging. The project offers a sustainable alternative that reduces the pressure on protected forests, creates employment and provides habitat for numerous species of wildlife.

Team member at the tree nursery with a young pine tree.

Climate
Biodiversity
Economy & People

Between 2002 and 2020, over 10,000 hectares of degraded land have been reforested with more than 8 million trees, contributing to the sequestration of more than 1 million tons of CO₂.

Planted forest alternate with areas where natural regeneration of trees and shrubs is protected. The project forms a mosaic of biodiversity in a landscape dominated by agriculture. Water balance and soil fertility are carefully managed to ensure the long-term existence of the forest. About one-fifth of the area is exempt from cultivation and has been placed under protection as a biodiversity corridor. The Kikonda Forest Reserve is home to more than 120 bird species, 39 of which are at risk of extinction.

The project covers an area the size of more than 10,000 soccer fields and provides a livelihood for over 600 people and their families. All employees receive professional training. In addition to a secure income for the workers, the population benefits from the voluntary services, like provision of accommodation for employees, medical care, support for local schools and a long-term program to increase agricultural productivity & improvement of water supply.

Reports

2017
Facing land conflict
FSC Report

Facing land conflict by growing farmers’ means to support themselves…

2020
Criterion Africa Partners Successfully Exits Ugandan Timber Plantation
Press Release

Criterion Africa Partners, Inc. (“CAP”), a private equity firm investing in the forestry sector in…

2020
Biodiversity and livelihoods flourish in Uganda’s FSC certified plantations
FSC Report

With over 280 bird species, a variety of mammals and a wide range of…

2023
The Golden Forest of Uganda
FSC Report

Diverse animal species, including the elusive African golden cat, are…

on March 1, 2023

Uncategorized

Kikonda in the Media

The Kikonda Forest Project started in 2002 when the Uganda Ministry of Environment provided a lease agreement to have 12,000…

Voices

“The company drilled dams and wells for us in all the surrounding communities. We have less water shortage in the area, and we have given employment opportunities in the project. People are working in the forest.”

John Karubanga (Community member)

“Poverty was the order of the day because people didn’t have a way to work and earn money. But when the company came in, it improved people’s lives by hiring them, constructing permanent houses, and contributing to our children’s education.”

Robert Zziwa (Neighbour community member)

“I learned that my own soil could be as fertile as the forest if I cleared the weeds, mulched and used manure.”

Fred Muwalampya (Cultivator)