Sugar cane companies managed to get the rights to the land on which this forest stands in controversial circumstances, yet they were given the right to clear the land.
Home to both around 5000 chimpanzees and Mangabeys, under the “common good of the citizens of Uganda act” from 1998, areas like this are held in trust and may not be leased out or sold by the government.
Unfortunately back in August 2016 one of 5 traditional kingdoms in Uganda claimed and were granted this land as ancestral land. Just 4 days later they handed it over to the sugar plantation company.
It seems to be a growing problem, where title deeds for land that includes or is exclusively protected reserves is given away to a group who has some claim on it, and they instantly sell it off.
The fight to save what remains of the forest is ongoing, however little hope is held. This sort of destruction must stop. Crop producers are increasingly effective at playing these weak spots to their advantage.
Apart from the loss of rainforest, which is bad for the planet, the locals have also lost a significant resource which would have been used sustainably for wood and other resources for centuries. The plantation is unlikely to offer many jobs to locals and other resources including a reliable water supply is likely to be lost.
