Forests are and will remain one of the major
sources of livelihoods to the majority of
the people, to maximize the benefits of forests
and trees, and to accelerate the restoration
of the huge chunks of forest degraded over
the last several decades, there is need for
greater inclusion and participation of the
forest-dependent communities in the management
of the forests.
This probably explains why, over the last
25 years, there is a growing commitment the
world over to set up laws and policies to
give communities more control and ownership
of their forests.
Uganda is actively pursuing the sustainable
development agenda, but like in many patriarchal
societies, the women still need the consent
of their husbands to plant and own forests.
It is on thus premise that the Center for
International Forestry Research, with funds
from the Austrian Development Agency partnered
with Makerere University, the Association
of Uganda Professional Women in Agriculture
and Environment, and the local communities
to pilot a 5-year gender, tenure, and community
forestry project.
The purpose was to explore the ways in which
to increase the participation of women in
the management of forests and forestry resources.
Makerere University School of Forestry, Environment,
and Geographical Sciences coordinated the
project in Uganda and identified key factors
constraining women’s rights and participation
in decision-making and benefits in the management
of forestry resources.
The Association of Uganda Professional Women
in Agriculture and Environment, introduced
the Adaptive Collaborative Management Strategy
to encourage the community members to self-reflectively
identify the problems which affect them, take
collective and collaborative actions to resolve
them, monitor and reflect on the outcomes,
participate fully in the discussions and leadership
of their respective groups, identify and tap
into linkages with it’s actors, and to learn
from their choices.
AUPE supported them to use the participatory
rural appraisal.
The responses form all the groups were then
merged into one comprehensive vision statement
and a 5-year community action plan.
Trained ACM facilitators guided the process
from the start, encouraging participation,
monitoring, organizing meetings, prompting
discussions, and catalyzing linkages.
The women have been able to build their communication
skills to support the much-needed joint learning
among the participants, as well as building
their negotiation skills to resolve the conflicts
in their midst using peaceful means.
It also came out prominently that involving
the male partners was necessary so that they
can be more supportive of their spouses, to
own the trees, forests, and forestry products.
And finally, the communities have been able
to create linkages to get services from actors
external to the group.
This result therefore suggests that in ACM
lies the answers to empower women to get their
tenure rights so that they can participate
in decision-making and the overall management
of forestry resources.
