The role of the faith-based organisations in tree planting in Uganda

ABSTRACT

This study explored tree planting in Uganda by several faith-based organisations (FBOs). These were the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church of Uganda, the communities of Muslims, Pentecostal Assemblies of God and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Key resources for tree planting were good administrative structures from the grassroots level to funding provisions. Benefits of tree planting include: fuelwood, sawn timber, fruit production and provision of environmental services. Constraints faced by FBOs in tree planting include: lack of skills for resource mobilisation and tree planting, lack of specific environmental protection policy, restricted funds, lack of suitable indigenous tree seedlings, negative attitudes of local communities, inclement weather and inadequate tending of planted seedlings. The findings will guide decision-making by FBOs and funding agencies in enhancing tree planting for products provision, carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

KEYWORDS:

• Tree planting
• faith-based organisations
• conservation

Acknowledgments

The research was partly funded by REDD+EA (Uganda) project. We thank our many collaborators, in particular the leadership and staff of the Roman Catholic Church and Caritas- Uganda, the Anglican Church of Uganda, Muslim communities, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Pentecostal Assemblies of God for permission and provision of valuable information that was essential for the completion of this manuscript. We also thank the Ministry of Science and Technology for permission to carry out research as part of REDD+ EA project, and the reviewers and the Editor for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).