The project is located in Buikwe District, Ssi-Bukunja Sub-county, Zittwe Parish and Nalumuli Village. The site of the project the whole sub-county of Ssi-Bukunja which is one of the few sub-counties in the greater Mukono that still have significant natural forest cover which is largely owned and managed by private entities and individuals. The objective of this project is to “Quantify Tree Diversity, Carbon Stocks, and Carbon Sequestration Potential of Nalumuli forest”. The managers of this forest in partnership with Regenerate Africa, Solid Options Company Ltd andGreat Outdoors have agreed to have the 540 Acre (218.52 Ha) forest managed as a model privately owned natural forest. This forest is one of 13 privately owned natural forest parcels in the sub-county. Information obtained will be used to prepare management and conservation plan for the forest. The information will also be used to prepare a feasibility of encouraging sustainable management all forests and agricultural lands in Ssi-Bukunja Sub-county for generation of verifiable and certifiable ecosystem (biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, watershed, soil conservation and recreational) services.
The project has the following specific objectives:
- Determine baseline plant composition (trees, treelets, vines/climbers, shrubs, epiphytes and herbaceous vegetation (Bailey 2003)) diversity of Nalumuli forest
- Determine baseline forest/vegetation cover, biomass and forest carbon stocks including for Soil Carbon
- Label the selected and important trees, shrubs and climbers to support public appreciation of, and education on the value and importance of these plants and the forests that support them
Target Group and Beneficiaries
The project targets the farmers, protected area managers, private and public entities that own and or are managing forest and agricultural lands of Ssi-Bukunja in Buikwe district. The project will start with the inhabitants of Zittwe Parish and Nalumuli Village (1300 households). Later in the second phase the entire Ssi-Bukunja Sub county (about 8,000 Households) will be targeted and followed by the whole district.