1. Ministry of Water and Environment
Land and Poverty Conference 2017 Responsible Land Governance: Towards an Evidence-Based Approach. Washington, DC, March 23rd , 2017
CIFOR POLICY DIALOGUE Tenure reform implementation: What have we learned in Uganda? By
Bob Kazungu,
Senior Forest Officer,
Ministry of Water and Environment
UGANDA

2. What forest tenure reforms in Uganda?
Shift from Communally owned to publically owned and vice versa in over 100 Yrs.
Land tenure reforms influence forest tenure reform and its implementation
1990s, predominantly by the Kingdoms
1900s, mailo land, freehold, leasehold and crown land
Pre 1900s, largely communal
1990s, customary tenure was abolished
NFTPA, 2003, CFRs-NFA; WCAs-UWA; LFRs-LGs, CFs-declared community institution; PFs-private sector( Corporate, traditional institutions etc)
Forest loss from 24% in 1990 to 9-10% in 2016
Land act, 1997, govt to hold land I trust for the citizens & DLBs instituted
1947, CFRs by CCF; LFRs by L Auth appointed by Minister; village forests by Las and forests on open lands for licenses by CCFs
1975, Decree for public ownership
1995 constitution recognized customary land ownership alongside mailo, leasehold and free hold

3. What works & what does not work
Collective responsibility, Responsible Bodies, lead agencies and communities play their roles e.g registration of forests to enhance tenure.
Apply and/or embed approaches/ techniques like Adaptive Collaborative Management and Participatory Prospective Analysis in project development and implementation. These been tested and been empowering to groups of mainly women to negotiate for rights to access
Genuine engagement of all stakeholders in discussions of implementation and modalities.
Innovation, use of Remote sensing & GIS to provide useful data for policy decision making. What evidence exists indicating improved forestry management as a result of enhanced tenure?
What does not work?
Limited and/or weak coordination of different stakeholders to harness successes and deliver real effects.
Low level of awareness and information for/to communities discourages local participation in forest management and forest protection activities.
IN ACTION to the recommendations

4. What lessons?
Effective coordination is pivotal to enhanced forest tenure security
Empowered communities are effective in engaging responsible bodies to enhance tenure rights across the bundles of rights.
Reform implementation strong & effective with financial support.
Pilot projects targeting tenure reform implementation usher in new thinking e.g CIFOR( EC, BMZ), and FAO(DFID) supported projects have triggered policy review to enhance tenure largely for effective community participation( Gender focussed).
Political will is key- Power centres need to appreciate the significance of an enhanced forest tenure system
Building governance capacity is useful in enhancing forest tenure security.

5. “Imagine if trees gave off Wifi signals, we would be planting so many trees and we’d probably save the planet too. Too bad they only produce the oxygen we breathe.