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Uganda
ARC's faith partners in Uganda
ARC is working with three faith groups in Uganda who have developed long-term environmental action plans and were among 26 Christian, Muslim and Hindu faith groups in sub-Saharan Africa that launched long-term environmental action plans at ARC's Many Heavens, One Earth, Our Continent Celebration in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2012.
Our faith partners include:
Bunyoro Kitara Diocese, Church of Uganda
Greening Initiatives (Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and Uganda Muslim Women Association)
Green Top – Tree Planting Project (Humanitarian Efforts and Relief Uganda and Uganda Muslim Youth Assembly)
Read more about their activities below.
Bunyoro Kitara Diocese, Church of Uganda
Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese is a Church of Uganda diocese in the mid-western region of Uganda, covering the administrative districts of Hoima and Kibaale. The Anglican Diocese consists of six archdeaconries with 58 parishes with around 900,000 members and 600 grassroots churches. Around 98% of its members live by subsistence farming as their source of income.
The Diocese has 123 church-based schools (113 primaries, 10 secondary), two technical schools, one teacher training college and one diocesan training college. It also organises Women’s and Men’s Bible study groups, the Mothers’ Union, youth groups, the Fathers’ Union, Christian Women Fellowship and Christian Men Fellowship. The Diocese runs a large health centre and programmes for orphans and vulnerable children. It also has a microfinance project and a coffee plantation.
Under the diocese's previous environmental plan, every parish must plant annually a woodlot of pines and every candidate for confirmation and baptism must plant pine trees. The Diocese also runs an extensive tree-planting programme. A total of 11,653 trees have already been planted, while rural parishes have planted 19,404 trees through a community outreach programme.
Long-term Commitment for a Living Planet
The Diocese’s new Seven-Year Plan builds on existing work and also on the pilot nursery bed scheme to engage the Mothers’ Union in the Diocese to establish and manage nurseries. It is hoped to extend this scheme to 24 parishes in the Diocese.
Agreed future activities will include:
Roll out of tree nursery scheme
Organise environmental conferences for leaders and teachers
Work with forestry department to encourage indigenous tree species
Promote energy-saving charcoal stoves for cooking
To read a summary of the plan, click here.
To read the plan, click here.
Greening Initiatives (Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and Uganda Muslim Women Association)
The UMSC is an umbrella body for the estimated six million Muslims in Uganda. It is led by a Mufti and a Director of Sharia with more than 2,000 sheikhs throughout the country. The UMSC runs a hospital and a radio station at its headquarters in Kampala, along with many Muslim-founded schools. The Uganda Muslim Women Association is a UMSC affiliated group. Consultative meetings to draw up this long-term plan were held with the Uganda Muslim Women Association, the UMSC, the National Mosque Committee, the Director of Sharia in Uganda and the National Mosque Chief Imam as well as with Senior officials of the National Forestry Authority and the Pan Africa Muslim Journalist Association.
Long-term Commitment for a Living Planet
There have already been more than 30,000 seedling trees planted through community groups and an annual Greening Friday during Ramadan has been used to honour the environment.
Agreed future activities will include:
Tree planting and agroforestry will be promoted through 210 selected mosques
2,100 charcoal burning stoves will be constructed and distributed to households
Faith-based environmental celebrations and songs will be developed
Partnerships with Government bodies will be developed to explore carbon trading possibilities
To read a summary of the plan, click here.
To read the plan, click here.
Green Top – Tree Planting Project (Humanitarian Efforts and Relief Uganda and Uganda Muslim Youth Assembly)
Humanitarian Efforts And Relief Uganda (HEAR Uganda) and Uganda Muslim Youth Assembly (UMYA) are sister organisations. They have committed to drawing up a sevenyear environmental action plan, called ‘Adapting to Climate Change and Tree Planting Initiative’, with the Muslim community in Uganda.
Drastic changes in the forest cover have taken place in Uganda during the past century. Recent widespread deforestation has caused a reduction in the supply of wood and nonwood forestry products as well as in environmental services, such as watershed and soil protection, and in biodiversity. There is a growing demand for forest products, and a growing shortfall in supply, based on current investment levels. Due to deforestation there are increased fuel wood costs and much time and money is wasted in fuel wood collection.
In 2011 UMYA, in collaboration with Uganda Women Vision, organised an Iftar (breakfast/evening meal during the month of Ramadan) programme for professional Muslim women and Muslim female students from institutions of higher learning to plant trees and distribute seedlings.
Long-term Commitment for a Living Planet
The aim of the long-term plan therefore is to make Uganda’s six million Muslims more aware about environmental conservation and tree planting, and to establish tree nurseries throughout the country distributing free tree seedlings.This plan builds on the environmental work of HEAR Uganda and UMYA.
Agreed future activities will include:
To establish tree nurseries in five regions of Uganda
To dmeonstrate through schools, mosques and households best practice in rainwater harvesting
To set up a centre demonstrating solar and wind technologies
To read a summary of the plan, click here.
To read the plan, click here.
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