Tree Talk April 2012

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3. Use less wood/charcoal

Vol.12No.1 April2012

Uganda is facing anenergy crisis. The use offirewood and charcoal in

households, institutions andindustries far outstrips thesupply of trees.

Today the cost of charcoal inKampala and Wakiso ranges from

70,000/= to 100,000/= perbag. Nakasongola, Mubende andMasindi are the main charcoalproducers. This is devastatinglocal forests in those districts.Some people have to walk morethan eight hours to get firewoodand often buy as opposed to thepast when it was free of charge.

In Northern Uganda, treeswere plenty on land left whenpeople moved into camps duringthe war. But today, trees arebecoming scarce. KomakechPatrick, from Purongo, Nwoyadistrict, says he and his familymove 7-15 km for firewood.This is a whole day and they pay

for the wood. His family usesa one tonne pickup of firewoodevery month. Buying firewood isexpensive for a family withouta stable income. In Purongo,

Podocarpus

Usambarensis

is a very useful

indigenous tree

used in the making

ofbeehives, crates,

furniture, joinery,

and plywood. It is

usually called Podo

in many Ugandan

languages. It

grows well across

southern Uganda

especially in Rakai.

caused many social problein the communities. Womeleave their children andhusbands unattended to wthey go to look for firewooThis leads to violence infamilies as husbands aresuspicious that their womeare delayed by other men.

Often these women and giare raped in bushes.

EnvironmentWhen we cut trees, wecontribute to climate chanreduced crop yield, soil eroand flooding among otherimpacts. That means that dry seasons are becomingextremely dry while the weseasons dangerously wet.Tree cutting reduces harveand increases erosion, flooand wind, It dries out the sIt also drives termites intocrops!

AbsenteeismChildren miss school whentheir families ask them tocollect firewood. This maktheir performance in classpoor.

TWO SISTERS, ONE CRISIS. Lakisa Diana, 14, P6 and her sister Stella Amaro, 15,P7 study in Gulu. They live in Purongo in Nwoya during school holidays. On the day TreeTalk met them, they had spent 10 hours looking for rewood and charcoal to buy.

This fuel-saving stove in Lalogi, Gulu, is made

from anthill soil and chopped grass. It uses fewer

wood and charcoal. Anyone can make such a

stove. Write to Tree Talk PO Box 22366 Kampala

for a manual or contact Ministry of Energy on

0414234733.

Get a tree planting guide!

Write to PO Box 22366,

Kampalaor email info@

treetalk.or.ug

firewood costs 5000/=

to 10,000/= per pickup,while transportation costs15,000/=. A bag of charcoalthat lasts a family one week

costs 15,000/=.

Changing diet

Due to the energy crisis,families have to give healthystaple food like beans thattake long to cook. They nowopt for fast cooking foods with

less nutritional value like boiled

cassava because they requireless firewood.

Conficts

Lack of firewood has also

Wood provides 97% of Uganda's energy. We need

more tree nurseries. Tree Talk runs eight nurseries in

the North. Each produces over 200,000 seedlings per

season. Tree Talk also supports 35 smaller community

nurseries. You can run a small nursery too. Every parish

needs a nursery.

A pupil in Kwoti PS plants

Markhamia (Lusambya). Tree

Talk is replanting riverbanks on

Mt Elgon with IUCN, Kween and

Kapchorwa districts. For more,

call 0312266148.

2.Involve schools1. Start a tree nursery

Steps to solve fuel scarcity

If you arein Northern

Uganda, contactTree Talkfor

seedlings whenthe rains

start.

Tree of the month


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Tree Talk, April 20122

Uganda is burning:bricks,charcoal,fire,heat!U

nder harsh sun,Michael Opobo fromPaibona pushes a bag

of charcoal to Gulu town. Hesells charcoal to earn moneyto feed his family. But, withevery tree cut for charcoal,Opobo's ability to earn fromfarming becomes less.

From eight middle sizedtrees, Opobo gets four sacksof charcoal which he sells at25,000/= each. He however

worries about what willhappen when the trees are nomore. He and his friends haveformed a group calledKica

aber(mercy is good), and theyplan to start growing trees tosustain their charcoal business.Martin Ochen, a brick burnerin Paicho, Gulu, says he needs100 medium sized logs to burn4500 bricks. These are a lot oftrees being cut down. Charcoalburning and brick making hurtour biodiversity and destroymany trees of value to humans.

Many species of animals, insectsand plants are no more dueto charcoal burning and brickmaking. Many trees of valuelike Terminalia, Combretum,

Above:Tree Talk's Martha Akello looks at a fuel-saving stove in

Adjumani prison. Before it had the stove, the prison used three

trucks of rewood a month. Now they use just one truck for three

months. Their maize cobs (below) are also used for cooking.

Get cool cookingsolutionsFires burnt almost 20 Tree Talk school

woodlots in 2011-12. Natural woodland

and plantations of pine and eucalyptus

are getting burnt every dry season. Bush

fires kill people and destroy homes,

crops and property. They also wipe out

important micro-organisms in the soil

and kill pollinators like bees, without

which we will have no honey, fruits, an

crops like millet. Boys, starting a fire

does not make you a man!

Forests = Water

Do not burn forests or convert

them into charcoal because forests

are our source of water. When

rain falls on forests, the branches

and leaves of the trees break the

force of the falling raindrops

preventing erosion. The water

follows roots and animal tunnels

down into the soil and collects

as groundwater which can be

extracted through drilling.

We have to cook ourfood. So how dowe do it without

damaging the environment?

Adjumani prison used toconsume three lorries offirewood a month. In 1998, withthe help of prison headquarters,they planted 90 acres of treesfor fuel. But, says Deputy OC

ASP Drani Richard, "Evenwith our own woodlot, we stillneeded efficient ways of usingfirewood."

In 2002, with the help ofGIZ, the prison acquired aninstitutional fuel-saving stove,

which reduced the amount offirewood they use from threelorries a month to one lorry inthree months!

The prison grows maize on itsfarm and uses the cobs as asource of fuel. In a year, the

prison gets about 300 bags ofmaize cobs.

Drani says they plan to expandtheir woodlot to 150 acres and

they are currently building asecond wood-saving stove.

Pollinators are

our friends.They need bush i

which to rest andraise their youngBees, butterflies,moths, flies,

wasps, sunbirds,bats and bushbabies pollinatecrops so we can

have good qualityfruits for us.

Piliostigma, Albizia, Zizyphusand Vitellaria are threateneddue to charcoal burning. The

Worldwide Fund for Natureestimates that Uganda losesover 6000 hectares of trees a

year. If this continues, Ugandawill have no trees in a fewyears to come. This calls forimmediate action from each ofus. Plan your tree nursery today.Tree Talk encourages Charcoal

Production Associations inAcholi to grow trees. If youlive in Gulu and want moreinformation on this, contactLucy Edea 0772994618 orLanyero Pauline 077974613

You can also visit Tree TalkOffice at Gulu Youth Centre.

If you live in Hoima, Nakasongola and Masindi and wantjoin a charcoal association cTree Talk on 0312266148.

To know more about largefuel-conserving stoves,contact Ministry of energy on0414234733.

Warning! Bush fires!

Top left:A brick kiln. Top centre:A three-stone cooking re

most of the heat is lost out the sides of the re and does not

into the pot! Top right: A maize eld dries in the sun.

Top:Michael Opobo takes charcoal to Gulu town.

Insert:A pile of wood for turning into charcoal.


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Alternative energy sources

Always use dry firewood split intthin pieces. Wet firewood losesits heat value in driving off exceswater. It also produces a lot ofsmoke.

Use a saucepan lid to cover foodwhen cooking. This creates cookpressure leading to faster softenof food and saving fuel.

Cut the food into smaller piecesThis reduces the amount of enerrequired to cook.

Soak the dry preserved foods(beans, peas etc) for at least 5hours before starting to cook. Thcuts down the amount of energy cook such food.

Avoid filling too much water in thsaucepan. It takes more energy tboil it, hence fuel wastage.

Light the fire after preparing thefood for cooking.

Efficient cooking:save 50% of firewoo

With the overwhelmingdemand for firewood andlimited supply of hydroelectricity, there is need tolook for other sources of

energy.

There are many alternative energysources that are being used in homesand instituitions. These include solar and

Make your energy saving stove

Atotal of 95% of people inUganda use wood in formof firewood and charcoal

for energy. This is responsible fordeforestation and soil degradationwhich has caused climate change.Alternatives such as hydro-electricpower, paraffin and gas are scarceand too expensive.

To save forests, recycle agriculturalwaste to manufacture charcoalbriquettes. They are affordablecompared to charcoal and firewood.

Benefits of charcoal briquettesUsing briquettes means buying lessfirewood and charcoal and reducedwaste and rubbish. You can make moneyfrom selling briquettes.

Do briquettes have any problems?Yes, fuel briquettes produce smokewhich is bad for your health. Materialsused for fuel briquettes may have othermore profitable uses such as manure.

Waste such as paper can be recycled.Briquettes should only be made fromlow-quality waste.

What materials can be turned intobriquettes?- Anything that burnswithout producing toxic ash or fumescan be used to make briquettes.

Examples are waste paper, waterhyacinth, peelings, leaves, grass, stems,rice husks, straws, charcoal dust,sawdust and coffee husks.

Agriculturalwastebriquettes

Packed briquettes on sell

Energy saving stoves areeasy to make using localmaterials.A rocket mud stove

is an improved stove made from locallyavailable building materials such asmud, dry grass, mud/clay bricks andwater.

It consumes firewood more efficientlythan a traditional three stone stove.This means less firewood is needed tocook the same amount of food.The stove also has two holes for cookingpots which means two items can becooked at the same time. It has thefollowing advantages:

1. Firewood fuel savingsIt reduces the amount of firewood usedin cooking and the time spent collectingfirewood.

2. Smoke reductionSmoke is directed out of the housecreating a healthier kitchen reducingrespiratory problems among womenand children.

3. Easy to operateThe air passage beneath the fire fansthe flames without the need for blowingby the person cooking.

4. Safe to useThe fire is shielded and can not causeburns to the children and the user.

At least 90% of the saucepans surfacearea has contact with the hot gases.

Insulation around the combustionchamber and fire passages preventsheat from escaping.

The firewood shelf enables air to passbeneath the wood to fan the flames,creating a strong fire from littlequantities of wood.

briquettes.Powered by the sun, solarenergy can be used for cooking, heat-ing water, lighting and charging phones.In Northern Uganda, many people areenjoying the benefits of solar energy.Robert Rom from Pabbo in Amuru says:

My brother bought me a solar panel in2011. I use it to run my salon and phonecharging business. I make between20,000/= to 40,000/= a day. I do not haveto worry about energy bills.

Make charcoalbriquettes from wasteHow to make briquettes froagricultural products

Step 1: Sort out the materials you to put into the briquette.

Step 2: Chop the material up and athem to partially decompose.

Step 3: Mix the material to for

liquid mixture of water and an insosolid material.

Step 4: Squeeze the insoluble mixinside a porous cylindrical mould to crhollow round cylinders or briquettes

Step 5: Dry the briquettes for 3 before use.

For briquettes made of charcoal dusmix charcoal dust with clay soil ortermite mound soil. The soil holdsthe charcoal dust together. Mould thmixture into your preferred shapes alet the briquettes dry. Briquettes bureasily in the stove and provide sufficheat. You can package briquettes tosell in your community and make somoney.

Charcoal briquettes

5. Environmentally friendly

The stove consumes less firewoodhelping to reduce deforestation. It alsopollutes less.

How the Lorena mud Stove

Works

The improved stoves are able to transfermaximum heat to the food because:

ABOVE: UPDF ofcers in Kitgum being trained by Tree Talk's Joseph

Otim on how to make a re shielded stove. Tree Talk trained 125

groups in Gulu and Kitgum.

ABOVE: Proprietor of a

restaurant near River Nile at

Laropi. She covers food while

cooking to save on energy.


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Your letters Write to PO Box22366, Kampala.Stella Sara, 11, in P5 atMasindi Town Model PSwrote: We have planted treesto prevent drought. We plantedpassion fruits and flowers toattract useful insects."

J Elasu, Rock View HS wrote:Thank you for your paper

which carries a lot of informa-tion. The struggle continues toprotect the environment."

Paul Fred Watowa wrote:Iam a nature lover and havegreat interest to see it pre-

served. I come from Mbale."

Eric Mbusa, teacher in chargeof Straight Talk activities atKiburara PS, Kasese, wrote:I appeal to all schools to con-sult development agencies forhelp in conserving the environ-ment. My school was given pineseedlings by Belgium TechnicalCooperation. We have planted alland hope they will grow well."

The Palabek SS Tree Talkclubwrote to say that it wasformed in 2008 and now has131 members.Tree Talk salutesGalileeOrphanage and Needy CareProgramme, which asked forMusizi and Mvule seeds. TreeTalk is happy to hear from the

Allied Forestry Consultants inHoima (078-2-572408) whoneed seed for Mvule, Musizi,

Antiaris (Kirundo), Mahoganyand Markhamia so they cansupply seedlings to the Chim-panzee Sanctuary and WildlifeConservation Trust. Can anyonehelp them?

Tree Talk is a Programme of StraightTalk Foundation, Plot 4, Acacia Avenue,Kololo PO Box 22366, Kampala. Tel.0312-262030 or 0312-266148.

This issuewas fundedby DANIDA.

News!

A boy lls pots at the IUCN

funded Tree Talk nursery in

Kapchorwa. If you want to

grow trees, a good place to

learn about them is a tree

nursery. See if you can get a

casual job in a nursery.

Tree Talkwill not

send out seeds with

this paper. Instead,

we ask schools,

CBOs, churches and

individuals to write

in for seeds. You ca

request more than

one type. We will do

our best to supply yo

Write to Tree TalkP

Box 22366 Kampal

or E-mail to info@

treetalk.or.ug

Northern UgandaBetween July - December

2011, Tree Talk raised 1.3million seedlings. More than60% are expected to surviveat one year. It enrolled over25 Charcoal Groups (a totalof 300 members) to plantindigenous trees, includingswamp palms in Acholi sub-region.

Tree Talk taught membersof 25 communities to buildenergy-saving stoves. Over100 stoves were constructedin the trainingsessions.

Trained 25 Local

EnvironmentCommittees in5 districts onclimate changeadaptation actions.

As a result,many people areenrolling for treeplanting.

Elsewhere inUgandaTree Talk

Tree Talk achievements in 2011

Tree Talkgratefully acknowledges ideas, content and illustrations used in this

paper that come from Dino J Martin's "Our friends, the pollinators" leaet; the

bookLaikipia - a natural history guide, particularly the drawings by Lavinia

Grant; and the teachers book, Learning for sustainable living in Kenya.

partnered with KaliroEnvironment ConservationProject (ECP) to grow 6000seedlings, distributed them toten schools. Contact RogersMugoda on 0774-059844 or0772-326855 for details.

In Soroti, Tree Talk issupporting Partners for

Vulnerable Children (PVC)with tree seeds. PVC aims toraise 10,000 seedlings for thecommunity and environmentclubs in six primary schools.

In Kapchorwa,Tree Talk andMvule Trust haveidentified 10 younggirls and boys tostudy forestry atNyabyeya ForestryCollege.

InNakasongola,Tree Talk worked

with eight schoolsto plant 6000 treesto commemoratethe International

Year of Forests.

In 2011, Tree Talk asked you -WHO OWNSTREESin your culture? Most of you said menare the owners."In my culture men are the ones

who own trees," wrote a reader from ManafwaHigh School. "Since men are the heads of thefamily, they are the owners of everything at home.Men will sell trees to earn income and use them toconstruct a house."

Jesca Kabugho a P6 pupil at Kiburara PS agreed:"The men own the trees in our culture." Tree Talkbelieves it is best when both men and women owntrees. "The belief that men own trees stems from

Tree Talk starts in Kapchorwa

Trees belong towomen and girls too

Good news! Tree Talkis working withcommunities in six

villages along River Atar inKapchorwa.

Supported by the InternationalUnion for Conservation ofNature (IUCN), Tree Talk hasset up two nurseries, which

are expected to produce over300,000 seedlings. In November2011, Tree Talk gave out thefirst 25,000 seedlings to 56people. All seedlings have beenplanted.

River Atar separates Kapchorwaand Kween districts. Its banksare heavily degraded and theriver had decreased in volume

while the water was muddyand contaminated with human

and animal waste. Yet it is themain source of piped water forKapchorwa Town Council.

To rescue the ecosystemand protect the watershed,Kapchorwa district localgovernment demarcateda buffer area around theriver. This land belongs to

communities which prefer touse it to cultivate crops andrear animals.

Communities are beingencouraged to plant trees,especially within the buffer area

which is within 200 metres ofthe river and its tributaries.

Most of the tree speciesselected for planting areindigenous. However, Tree

Above: One of the tributaries of River Atar.

Only one tree -- a Prunus africana -- is still

standing. Inset:Tree Talk's Immaculate

Chelangat who is leading the reforestation.

the fact that in Uganda men usually own the land," explainsXavier Mugumya of the National Forestry Authority,

The Forestry Policy 2002 says, the person who

plants a tree owns it. If a woman plants a tree, it i

her tree. So women too, can plant and own trees.

"Girls should be given an opportunity to inherit land as welltrees planted by their parents," says Eric Waiswa, a foresteIganga." All children should be treated equally".Abari Emanuel, a teacher at Patira Primary School inNwoyasays, "I planted trees to pay fees for my daughters. call them 'my daughters' trees."

Talk nurseries are raisingMarkhamia, Prunus africanaand Cordia africana as well assome Grevillea, eucalyptus andcypress, which are not Africantrees but areuseful if planted inthe correct places.

Close to the river and itstributaries, communities will

be helped to grow bamboo andpalms and to allow naturalregeneration of trees. Wildseedlings of species such asPrunus africana will be collectedfrom nearby Mt Elgon NationalPark.

Trees grown in the 200 metreband along the waterwaysbelong to the owners of theland.

Girls of Kwoti PS in Kapchorwa pause with seedlings

during International Year of Forests. A total of 150

seedlings were planted in the school compound.

Documents

Tree Talk April 2012