Uganda has made a significant pledge to the Bonn Challenge, committing to bring 2.5 million hectares of degraded and deforested land into restoration by 2020. Since 60% of Uganda’s population depends on agriculture, the need to restore degraded and deforested lands is crucial. Currently, IUCN works in the country to enhance the resilience of landscapes and the communities that depend on those lands for their livelihoods. Some of the projects focus on training farmers on the implemention of different FLR practices and interventions.

The programme has already trained over 150 farmers and technical personnel on a technique called farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) to promote the regeneration of lands that have been cleared for farming. This low-cost sustainable landscape restoration technique aims to improve the productivity of agricultural lands while increasing tree cover and biodiversity. This is done primarily through the management of the tree stumps of indigenous trees (which remain after clearing land for farming) to facilitate regeneration.

Farmers are embracing the approach and seeing positive results. Martin Aryam, a farmer from Otuke District, explains, “I was taught how to protect my trees from livestock and fire. Now there is regeneration of fruit trees and other important indigenous species. I have also managed to plant an additional 23 trees on my farm and I intend to plant more in the coming rainy season. These trees provide shade to animals and at the same time act as wind breaks. They prevent the wind from blowing off our roofs when there is a storm and protect our crops from the rain.”

The full story can be followed at:

      Photo: IUCN

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