6th February 2015 No.34www.utga.ug

With the Support of The Government of Norway

NurSery hyGieNeImportance & of securing good planting material

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Private commercial tree nurs-ery certification is an annual programme conducted by both SPGS/UTGA to ensure produc-tion of quality planting material, offering on-site technical advice, and promoting professionalism in nursery business. From 27th to 31st January, 2015, an auditing team from UTGA and SPGS visited the West Nile and Northern Uganda clus-ters i.e. in the districts of Arua, Nwoya, Gulu, Dokolo, Lira, Apac, Albetong, Soroti and To-roro. A total of 14 nurseries were au-dited with one of them located in Nwoya district raising eucalyp-tus clonal material, Teak (Tectona grandis) cuttings/seedlings/ stumps planting materials. Another 3 nurseries in Soroti, Lira and Albetong were raising

eucalyptus clones while all the others were involved in pine seed-lings even if much of it was still on small scale.

UTGANEWS

AREA FiRE DAnGER inDEX FOR FEBRUARY WEEK 1 2 3 4 MUBEnDE CLUSTER Mityana Mubende Kibaale Fort Portal

It is currently excruciatingly dry all over Uganda which means that it is fire season. A number of growers have reported fire in-cidences. The Fire danger index displayed is for general informa-tion purposes

Fire STechnical adviceIt was generally observed that a lot more technical support to all

Pine seedlings competing for nutrients with weeds leads to low survival rates

ALBERTinE CLUSTERHoimaMasindiKiboga & Kyankwanzi

ViCTORiA CLUSTERJinjaMayugeMukonoLugaziMasakaKampala

nORTHERn UGAnDA CLUSTERGuluLiraDokolo

WESTniLE CLUSTERAruaYumbeNebbi & Zombo

SOUTH WESTERn UGAnDA CLUSTERKaseseMbararaKabale

CEnTRAL CLUSTER LuweeroNakasekeNakasongola

AREA FiRE DAnGER inDEX FOR FEBRUARY WEEK 1 2 3 4

CLuSTer FDi OVerVieW S

Fire risk management is very important to the sustainability of plantation forestry in Ugan-da. While there are a motley of factors that are beyond the Grower’s control, it is essential for the grower to identify the risks over which he has some control and manage these risks in order to mitigate losses that may occur as a result of fires.For effective response in the event of fire, it is important to ensure that relevant organisa-tions and individuals like po-lice and neighbours have your contact details e.g cell phone. Similarly, Growers should have all their neighbours’ contact de-tails and become familiar with the roads and access routes onto neighboring farms.Weather is one of the most significant influencing fac-tors on fires and fire behavior. Despite man’s inability to control the weather, there is a huge amount of technology to assist with the prediction of weather conditions. Be aware of weather predictions. (UTGA has began to use global satelite technology to regularly in-form its Members of weather predictions of their cluster). and should conditions change unexpectedly, there should be plans to make possible use of all available recourses to con-trol burning It is also vital to monitor any form of burning in order to safe guard own assets and the lives of those around. As part of practicing responsi-ble and efficient fire risk man-agement, it is crucial to prepare large firebreaks on plantation boundaries to compensate for irresponsible attitude. A farm can have a reliable form of de-tection yet training of staff and

having well maintained equipment for fire fighting is crucial. It is possible that growing condi-tions and heavy rain may previous-ly have made some roads inaccessi-

ble hence the need to move around the plantation to assess the situa-tion. One of the dangers of fighting fire is not being able to escape from an area where a fire becomes life

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Managing fire risk

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Data compiled from Intellicast, Accuweather, World Weather and National Climatic Data Centre

1. Right from land preparation, ensure that you make access roads.2. Plant the right seed for good formation logs.3. Weed your young trees appropri-ately to attain straight logs suitable for logging.4. Prune at the right time to avoid dead notes at log sawing.5. Do 1st and 2nd thinning at the right time to harvest good quality and quantity.6. Make effective fire breaks to avoid extinction of your billions.7. Be good to your workers and neighbors to keep your forest from intrusion and fires.8. Join UTGA to benefit from subsidized services and maximized returns.

nurseries was still required as the practices at most nurseries was still wanting.

Low standardsDuring these audits, it was observed that pine seedlings’ standards have deteriorated due to the use of untrained nursery persons and lack of continuous serious supervision on some nurseries. It was also noted that a number of nurseries were suffering from turnover where those that are trained end up moving on. However, a few nurseries have continued to carry out proper nursery prac-tices and are producing good quality seedlings.

nursery hygieneBe that as it may, there are some nurseries that need to address major non-compliance to best nursery practices. They need to meet minimum standards for them to be certified and one of the most important one is nurs-ery hygiene. Having strict nursery hygiene and encouraging good air circu-lation within the nursery is very important and such measures reduce risks of dumping off. Dumping off is a collective name for a number of non-specific

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Managing fire risk in dry season Nursery hygienethreatening or you are unable to contain it as you are unable to reach a particular area and in most cases this is as a result of roads that are accessible. Grass fires are generally fast moving, even if they don’t have high fuel loads and the ability to burn for long periods. Other areas of high influence on fire behavior which form an essential risk Management practice are strict weed control and making access into a plantation safer and easier. If a fire can be reached within the first 10 to 15 minutes of it starting, 95% of the time the fire will be put out with very little loss having been incurred.UTGA plans to regularly train its Members to acquire capacity to carry out risk surveys on theirfarms to give growers an opportunity to rectify non-compliance, but also to point out any areas of risk man-agement which may have been over looked by the grower so that knowledge of fire risk management is shared across the broad spectrum of the Membership.

Advisory from a UTGA Grower

fungal diseases that cause a serious threat to seedlings after germination. The seedlings begin to rot from the collar resulting in toppling over. The major cause of dumping off is poor hygiene which may be attributed to over watering. It is recommended that the beds are watered only and when its required but without soaking them. It is also recommended to keep the beds free of weeds to reduce on stiff nutrients competition between the seedlings and weeds because such competition also increases the chances of fungal dis-eases which begin to spread in patches and finally to the entire bed. This causes a lot of deaths and are low survival rate hence the standard would have been compromised.

Auditing and trainingIn order to monitor the nursery operators’ practices, annual nursery auditing and refresher training courses in nursery es-tablishments and management are organised, communication on to them made and conduct-ed. Therefore, SPGS/UTGA nursery auditing team encour-ages all concerned to embrace such opportunities whenever they are made available.

UTGA/SPGS audit team at Garden of Africa nursery in Amuru

in the future. Mapping included drawings showing particular features in the plantations. These included rivers, fire lines, high value conservation areas and en-dangered species which must not be tampered with. The other com-ponent of the FSC was forestry management plans (FMP) led by Mr Nsiita from Havilla Co Ltd..FSC is a process geared towards attaining international forestry management standards. It looks at owners of plantations having in place forestry managementplans. These guide them on how to achieve particular set and agreed standards in general management of the business to meet interna-tional requirements. This means that operations at plantations of UTGA Growers can be compared to any other plantations in the world. The process has ten (10) principles that include; l Compliance with all appli-cable laws, l Observance of workers’ rights, l Managing indigenous peo-ples’ rights, l Employing good community relations, l Creating benefits from the forests to communities,

l Caring for the environment, l Working as per agreed man-agement plan, l Carrying out monitoring and evaluations of management practices, l Promotion of high conserva-tion values and l Implementation of manage-ment activities.

The certification processThe pilot process involved plan-ning out how the exercise was carried out. A procedure, struc-ture, and a checklist were drawn up. This was done to ensure that no information was left out at the time of implementation. The process started with interview-ing the plantation managers or owners depending on who was available. Baseline Information was captured about the status of affairs for each particular planta-tion. A questionnaire approach was used so that evidence of the exercise was captured. This also helped maintain consistency of the exercise from one interview to another. It involved discussions about the importance of manag-ing the plantation while following an (FMP).This would be inter-preted to generate a work plan for each year since an FMP might be

FSC Group Certification Pilot for UTGA GrowersBackground

UTGA working with FSC SDG Uganda hosted by Environmental Alert

under the auspices of the Uganda Forest Working Group carried out a pilot forestry group certifica-tion exercise for four (4) UTGA Members in Mubende. As one of the means to improve commercial forestry management in Uganda, to benefit Members, the UTGA secretariat embraced the concept of forestry certification (FSC). This was conceived earlier, the exercise was implemented in December 2014 and was carried out with the help of two consulting firms including Havillah Co. Ltd and Earth Consult.Commercial Forestry manage-ment currently operates in a globalized environment which has led to the need for UTGA to delve into group forestry certifica-tion so that the investments made by Members remain relevant and competitive at world class stan-dards.The FSC pilot was carried out from 17 to 20/12/2014. This was done in Mubende district at the plantations of; Mr. Bakojja, Buyigi Estate, Mr Bariho and Eden For-estry co. Ltd. The exercise looked at inventory taking and mapping.Mr. Lali from Earth Consulting led the exercise. This was used to determine the total stock of wood in any given plantation and would enable forecasting the quantities of wood in plantations

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Consultations with the local communities

2015 will be a decisive year for forestry-FAOThe post-2015 agenda will be adopted, including the ambitious Sustainable De-velopment Goals (SDGs), and an inclusive global climate change agreement is expected. agenda.

XiV World Forestry Con-gress in DurbanMore specifically on for-ests, the Eleventh Session of the United Nations Fo-rum on Forests (UNFF11) will review the International Arrangement on Forests, and the XIV World Forestry Congress will meet in Durban, South Africa, for the first time ever on the African continent. But what will be the consequences and opportunities for forests at all these crossroads?The SDGs will kick off the first co-herent and inclusive monitoring of the key human challenges in all countries. Thanks to the coordi-nated work of countries during the 2014 Committee on Forestry (COFO 22), as well as to the UNFF Secretary and FAO, forests and mountains have been given a prominent place in one of the 17 SDGs, thereby overcoming their marginal presence in the MDGs, which was restricted to a negative indicator on deforestation. The submission on the SDGs made by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) was crucial to come to an agreement on forest-relatedtargets that include the basic ele-ments of preservation of forests, sustainable management, restora-tion and water.

Climate changeOver the past decade, climate change has driven a growing societal interest in forests. The fact that vegetation basically forests stores as much carbon as the en-tire atmosphere demonstrates that small changes in land cover could

have a substantial impact on the climate, positive or negative. The concept of REDD+ has emerged and is being applied in most de-veloping countries. FAO has been crucial in linking this with therest of the forest agenda and opening it up to countries beyond the tropical rainforest countries. While acknowledging the tremen-dous progress of REDD+ on the ground, thanks in particular to the contribution of UN-REDD (FAO, UNDP and UNEP), we need anambitious climate change agree-ment that is able to sustain the commitment to making results-based payments to countries. Fail-ing in that task would seriously undermine the trust placed in the international community and its commitments since Copenhagen.

Forestry & the green economyOn the pathway towards a green economy, forests are the most important source of renewable green raw materials. Forests rely on soils for their growth; in turn, they enhance them and protect them against erosion and deg-radation. The more difficult the topography and the poorer thesoils, the more crucial becomes the role of trees and forests in protecting soils. Forests are also critical in the prevention of natu-ral disasters due to phenomena such as landslides, floods and

avalanches, especially in moun-tainous areas where forest cover is generally much higher. And forest products such as wood and bamboo enable much more resil-ient building in earthquake-prone

areas.Furthermore, the social agenda is gain-ing in importance. The increased attention to gender issues as well as to the relation-ship between forests and food security, as discussed at COFO 22, bears witness to this.

Forestry governance The open question on what shape interna-

tional forest governance will now take is timely and will also be addressed in New York in early May. Whatever countries might agree upon, FAO is ready to sup-port the process and its imple-mentation in countries in order to achieve the objectives and targets agreed upon internationally.Forests have long outgrown a specific sectoral space and can be defined more broadly as a sub-stantive terrestrial land use with its related human activities andenvironmental services. This renders governance increasingly complex, taking into account the different spatial and temporal layers, as well as those who stand to benefit from forests and those who bear the related costs.The XIV World Forestry Con-gress of Durban cannot come at a more timely moment to openly discuss the challenges and oppor-tunities ahead and identify new and potentially unconventional avenues for addressing them in line with policies relating to other areas.FAO is convinced that the Afri-can hosts will inspire the Con-gress to achieve that goal andto serve as a beacon for our com-mon future “with forests”.The writter, Eduardo Rojas-Briales is the Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department of FAO

Commercial forest plantations take pressure away from the natural forests

FSC Training for East Africa The Secretariat is very grateful to all the members who have

paid their Annual Subscription fees for 2014 and arrears. This is to kindly remind all those who have not yet paid to do so. Pay-ments for arrears can be received in installments. Payments to meet the financial liabilities for the current year plus those who have arrears can be made at the:

1. OfficeA receipt is availed immediately.

2. By Direct Debit to the Bank Account , a receipt is written after confirmation with the bank and scanned to the Payee.

3. Mobile moneyCharges for withdrawing must be included in the amount sent, a receipt is written and scanned and sent to the Payee.

4. Collection of paymentA call/email may be made to the secretariat for Members in and around Kampala. UTGA Staff will pick the payment from agreed location and a receipt availed immediately.Payment of the Annual fees is highly appreciated and allows for the efficient running of the Secretariat, facilitating and sup-porting UTGA activities.Be informed that the Association currently provides the following services directly to its Members:-• Forest Valuation, a paid for

service at cost; • Specific needs-training

required and requested by Members;

• Technical forest visits to Members plantation to offer onsite advice;

• Direct lobbying on aspects that touch on commercial forestry

• Importation of specialised forest tools and equipment that may not be in Uganda.

• Importation of improved, high quality seed

PAYMENT OF ANNUAl FEEs

Undertakes all forestry services, horticultural services, Agricultural farm supplies & Construction

Tel: 0781-886588, 0782-088978, 0705-164866, 0771-628265

LOCATION: KLA – GULU ROAD, AGALI AWAMU BUILDING, LOWER FLOOR, NEXT TO LYDDRINES

HOTEL, KATWE ZONE, LUWEERO TOWN COUNCIL

JOIN US IN ESTABLISHING AND MANAGING STANDARD FORESTRY PLANTATIONS TO PRESERVE OUR ENVIRONMENT AS WELL AS

ENRICHING OUR POCKETS.

PLANET GREEN WORLD (U) LTD

SPGS/UTGA CERTIFIED FORESTRY CONTRACTORS

Email:planetgreenworldugltd@gmail.com, P.O BOX 175, LUWEERO

FSC CERTiFiCATiOn COURSE - for forestry managers, contractors, government officials and NGOs – A practical approach (3 days). COURSE PRESEnTER: Michal Brink (400 mandays of audit experi-ence and trained more than 500 auditors world-wide from 80 countries. VEnUES AnD DATES: Tanzania: 23 to 25 April (exact location in Tanzania to be firmed up closer to the date) Uganda: 20 to 22 July (exact location in Uganda to be firmed up closer to the date) COSTThe cost is USD 700 for East Africa participants.

With Forest certification growing globally in excess of 30% per year, it has become critical for all role players in forestry to fully understand the FSC certification process and how it impacts on day-to-day forestry operations. This includes a clear understanding of:• Why forest certification is important• The certification process• Forest Management standard used in Africa, the approach of auditors when verifying compliance to the standard and when levels of non-compliance there are in the FSC system.• The role of stakeholders in FSC certification If you need any additional information or registration papers, please don’t hesitate to contact Nikita Janeke at nikita@cmo.co.za, who can also send a registration form.

How much money do I need to pay for each activity and how much do I expect to get?

The model below can be used as a benchmark to guide UTGA Growers on cost and

revenue along the rotation period so that it is possible to budget and plan for the growing cost, harvesting and processing cost to make a total cost that can be juxtaposed against totl revenues

after harvesting and sale of the trees. The ensuing figures can also be used to calculate Net Present Values (NPV), Land Expectation Value (LEV) after the first rotation and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Members are therefore able to make plans for cost and fore-cast projections for profitability

of commercial forestry operations holdingother factors constant. In addition to the Finance models exhibited in this esletter, previ-ously, UTGA has run models of productivity in plantation estab-lishment and maintanance and working cycle indicative costs.

EUCALYPTUS POLE WORKING CYCLE FINANCE

Operation YearStocking (Spha) Yield/ha (Logs)

Pole volume (m3)

Number of Poles in a m3

Untreated Pole Price (UGX/ha)

Teated Pole Price (UGX/Ha)

Harvesting to Log Yard Cost (UGX/Ha) (Logs)

Treating Cost (UGX/Ha)

1st Thinning Light Poles 3 600 10 0.02 51.1 5,110,000 8,250,000 850,000 1,750,000Felling Transmission Poles 8 600 250 0.42 2.4 72,000,000 187,500,000 21,250,000 43,750,000

Operation 15.00% NPV LEV IRRYear Cost or

revenue/ha (UGX) PV Cost Renenue/ha (UGX) PV Revenue

Land lease 1.00 0 25,000 25,000 0 0 -25,000Surveying 1.00 0 900,000 900,000 0 0 -900,000Technical Management 4.49 1 to 8 10,000 44,873 0 0 -44,873Administration 4.49 1 to 8 5,000 22,437 0 0 -22,437Road Construction 1.15 1 60,000 52,174 0 0 -52,174Road Maintenance 3.35 3 to 8 10,000 33,522 0 0 -33,522Land Clearing 1.00 0 270,000 270,000 0 0 -270,000Land preparation 1.00 0 100,000 100,000 0 0 -100,000Pre-planting spray 1.00 0 130,000 130,000 0 0 -130,000Marking & Pitting 1.15 1 130,000 113,043 0 0 -113,043Planting + Seedlings 1.15 1 650,000 565,217 0 0 -565,217Survival count 1.15 1 6,000 5,217 0 0 -5,217Blanking 1.15 1 130,000 113,043 0 0 -113,043Post Planting Ring Hoeing 2.28 1 to 3 70,000 159,826 0 0 -159,826Post Planting Slashing 2.28 1 to 3 90,000 205,490 0 0 -205,490Post Planting Spray 2.28 1 to 3 125,000 285,403 0 0 -285,403Tending Slashing 2.85 4 to 8 70,000 199,848 0 0 -199,848Tending Chemical Spraying 1.63 4 to 5 100,000 162,571 0 0 -162,5711st Pruning 1.32 2 100,000 75,614 0 0 -75,6142nd Pruning 1.52 3 115,000 75,614 0 0 -75,6143rd Pruning 1.75 4 125,000 71,469 0 0 -71,469Fire protection 4.49 1 to 8 30,000 134,620 0 0 -134,620Open Area Management 4.49 1 to 8 84,000 376,935 0 0 -376,935GROWING COST -4,121,9181st Thinning Light Poles 1.52 3 850,000 558,889 0 0 -558,889Clearfelling Transmission Poles 3.06 8 21,250,000 6,946,663 0 0 -6,946,663HARVESTING COST -7,505,551Light Poles Treatment 1.52 3 1,750,000 1,150,653 0 0 -1,150,653Transmission Poles Treatment 3.06 8 43,750,000 14,301,953 0 0 -14,301,953PROCESSING COST -15,452,606TOTAL COST -27,080,076Light Poles 1.52 3 8,250,000 5,424,509 51,100,000 33,599,079 28,174,571Transmission Poles 3.06 8 187,500,000 61,294,083 18,000,000,000 5,884,231,929 5,822,937,847TOTAL REVENUE 5,851,112,417VALUATION 5,824,032,342 8,652,574,194 262.00

ASSUMPTIONS2) Pole value increase with size 4) Yield per Ha based on pole volume5) Sale price is based on pole volume6) All cost and prices are current (UGX) (November 2014)7) All costs based on standard Manday Rate8) Model based on SPGS silvicultural standards for Sawlog Working Cycle

Costs (UGX) Revenue

EUCAlYPTUs POlE WORKING CYClE FINANCE

Continued on page 8

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PINE SAWLOG WORKING CYCLE FINANCE

Operation YearStocking (Spha)

Yield/ha (Logs)

Recovery (%) (Boards)

Recovery (m3) (Boards)

Board Price (UGX/m3)

Board Price (UGX/Ha)

Harvesting to Log Yard Cost (UGX/Ha) (Logs)

Sawmilling Cost (UGX/Ha)

1st Thinning 6 700 20 0.3 6 500,000 3,000,000 1,700,000 750,0002nd Thinning 8 500 40 0.35 14 630,000 8,820,000 3,400,000 1,750,0003rd Thinning 10 300 50 0.4 20 700,000 14,000,000 4,250,000 2,500,000Felling 18 300 300 0.45 135 800,000 108,000,000 25,500,000 16,875,000

Operation 15.00% NPV LEV IRRYear Cost or

revenue/ha (UGX) PV Cost

Renenue/ha (UGX) PV Revenue

Land lease 1.00 0 25,000 25,000 0 0 -25,000Surveying 1.00 0 900,000 900,000 0 0 -900,000Technical Management 6.13 1 to 18 10,000 61,280 0 0 -61,280Administration 6.13 1 to 18 5,000 30,640 0 0 -30,640Road Construction 1.15 1 60,000 52,174 0 0 -52,174Road Maintenance 5.85 3 to 18 10,000 58,474 0 0 -58,474Land Clearing 1.00 0 270,000 270,000 0 0 -270,000Land preparation 1.00 0 100,000 100,000 0 0 -100,000Pre-planting spray 1.00 0 130,000 130,000 0 0 -130,000Marking & Pitting 1.15 1 130,000 113,043 0 0 -113,043Planting + Seedlings 1.15 1 650,000 565,217 0 0 -565,217Survival count 1.15 1 6,000 5,217 0 0 -5,217Blanking 1.15 1 130,000 113,043 0 0 -113,043Post Planting Ring Hoeing 2.28 1 to 3 70,000 159,826 0 0 -159,826Post Planting Slashing 2.28 1 to 3 90,000 205,490 0 0 -205,490Post Planting Spray 2.28 1 to 3 125,000 285,403 0 0 -285,403Tending Slashing 5.72 4 to 18 70,000 400,713 0 0 -400,713Tending Chemical Spraying 1.63 4 to 5 100,000 162,571 0 0 -162,5711st Pruning 1.75 4 100,000 57,175 0 0 -57,1752nd Pruning 2.01 5 115,000 57,175 0 0 -57,1753rd Pruning 2.66 7 125,000 46,992 0 0 -46,992Fire protection 6.13 1 to 18 30,000 183,839 0 0 -183,839Open Area Management 6.13 1 to 18 84,000 514,749 0 0 -514,749GROWING COST -4,498,0231st Thinning 2.31 6 1,700,000 734,957 0 0 -734,9572nd Thinning 3.06 8 3,400,000 1,111,466 0 0 -1,111,4663rd Thinning 4.05 10 4,250,000 1,050,535 0 0 -1,050,535Clearfelling 12.38 18 25,500,000 2,060,531 0 0 -2,060,531HARVESTING COST -4,957,4881st Thinning Milling 2.31 6 750,000 324,246 0 0 -324,2462nd Thinning Milling 3.06 8 1,750,000 572,078 0 0 -572,0783rd Thinning Milling 4.05 10 2,500,000 617,962 0 0 -617,962Clearfelling Milling 12.38 18 16,875,000 1,363,586 0 0 -1,363,586PROCESSING COST -2,877,872TOTAL COST -12,333,3831st Thinning 2.31 6 3,000,000 1,296,983 10,000,000 4,323,276 3,026,2932nd Thinning 3.06 8 8,820,000 2,883,274 25,200,000 8,237,925 5,354,6513rd Thinning 4.05 10 14,000,000 3,460,586 35,000,000 8,651,465 5,190,879Clearfelling 12.38 18 108,000,000 8,726,953 240,000,000 19,393,229 10,666,276TOTAL REVENUE 24,238,099VALUATION 11,904,715 12,951,242 32.20

ASSUMPTIONS1) Recovery rates change with log size increase2) Board value increase as log size increase3) Price based on Wet Off Saw (WOS) sold at mill4) Yield per Ha based on log volume5) Sale price is based on board volume6) All cost and prices are current (UGX) (November 2014)7) All costs based on standard Manday Rate8) Model based on SPGS silvicultural standards for Sawlog Working Cycle

Costs (UGX) Revenue

PINE sAWlOG WORKING CYClE FINANCE

drawn for the entire life span of a given plantation. Below are the specific steps that were taken for forestry certification in Mubende District;• There was debriefing the local administration at both the district and the lower local administrative units. This was done so that they embraced and supported the process through mobilization of the communities.• Starting point was to interview the managers about the current management practices. This was carried out to identify the missing gaps that would feed in the FMP to meet the required standards. The managers are in-strumental in the implementation of work on a daily basis• The workers on each plan-tation were interviewed in the absence of their managers. This allowed free expression of what exactly happens on the plantation. Their views were collected while following a short interview guide. They were asked about key issues like how they handle grievances between themselves and their manager.• The communities sur-rounding the plantations were mobilized to attend a focus group discussion. This was intended to identify their expectations from the plantations and how they would co-exist in harmony with them. Focus group discussions were conducted. These were led by Havilla Co.ltd .These were live interactive exchanges in the pres-ence of plantation owners or their managers. This involved a feed-back mechanism to the commu-nity onspot.The process further generated information for feeding into the FMP’s.• The information gathered was further processed to enable interpretation of the findings. This led to analysis, and tentative conclusions to be used in writing up the FMP’s.

FSC group certification pilot for UTGA GrowersFrom page 4

• After the write up of the FMP’s, they will be presented for approvals right up to the district councils. This will be done before implementation of FMP’s starts.

UTGA secretariat will oversee the finalization of the write up of respective FMP’s, support their approval processes, review and promote continuous updates as may be required from time to time.The FSC pilot process in a nut shell is still work in progress but will soon be completed and be made available to the pilot plan-tations. This will form the basis for rolling out to the rest of the members.

Advantages of Certification• Because the certified plan-tations meet international man-agement standards, wood/timber will have access to international markets to fetch more than the local markets• The wood will be more competitive in the market place.• It will be possible to secure long-term contracts with big timber processing, building and construction companies and predict monetary value.• It will be easier to attract

other investors in the forestry sector in Uganda. This is because it will be possible to project total inventory in the plantations. Such information is critical for taking big capital outlay investment decisions.• It will be possible to access international soft finance. More capital injection into the sector in Uganda would come with im-provements.• Certified Members will be able to employ best practices in their plantations. This uniformity in approach is important to craft new improvements for future sustainability of the business.• There is an increase in the possibility of getting partners in investment who would help add value to the business of UTGA Growers. Some may come in as partners in the industry while others could buy directly into the plantations of Members.

Challenges of FSCThese are summarized as thus;• Meeting set international standards can be difficult for some Growers. This will take some members time to adjust and comply. This will be more com-plex when the management ap-proach has to be on a group basis.

Preparations for consultations in the field

Continued on page 10

Contact: Uganda Timber Growers As-sociation (UTGA)P.O.Box 75063 Kampala.Tel: 256-785-343564Email: info@utga.ugWebsite: www.utga.ug

This newsletter is a product of UTGA with support from SPGS and NORSKOG

UTGA News is a digital newsletter for the Uganda Timber Growers Association. It is published semimonthly (twice a month) to briefly summarize recent forestry-re-lated publications, projects, activities, and news.Do you have news, content, or ideas that you want to share in upcoming newslet-ters? Please send us your segments on articles and opinions on your organiza-tion, partnership, project, group, field stories, successes, challenges, fact sheets,

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All UTGA Members are in-formed that by flashing your Membership card at Hang-

zhou Agro Chemicals (U) Ltd, you qualify for an automatic discount on all purchases

of chemicals once you are a UTGA Member.

Avoid fake & adulterated products. Purchase only fromHangzhou Agro Chemicals (U) Ltd is located on Plot 56/58,

7th Street Industrial Area, Tel: 0414-252295

Advisory

UTGA has a sulky at the of-fice that members can hire

at a small fee. The sulky is used extensively in the skidding or extraction of wood/thinning from the interior of the plantation to a collection point. Those who are interested can call 0785-343564

SuLKy FOr hire

Some members will comply and others may not, yet the standards must be met by everybody in the group.• It will involve some cost. Members must be willing to pay for the service.• The failure by anybody in the group will mean failure by everyone in the group. This will negatively impact on the certifica-tion of every one jointly.• Customization of the management processes to meet our local requirements can be a challenge to some Members.• Sometimes the communi-ties may be overexpectant so that it may not be easy to fully man-age some of them.Despite the challenges, it’s worth noting that the exercise is valuable to the sector and judging by what is happening elsewhere in the

world, certification is the future of the industry.

ConclusionThe outcome of this exercise will form a basis for creating sustain-able forestry management plans for small and medium plantations in compliance with international standards. Slowly but progres-sively, effort will be expended to enable as many Members of UTGA join group certification as possible because of the enormous advantages that come with it. The larger Growers are already FSC certified,group certification for the smaller Growers will bring more synergy among Growers in Uganda and leverage the quality of plantations and forest products. . The UTGA Secretariat plans to take engage members and train them about its significance.

500,000/=

125,000/=

From page 9

FSC Group certification pilot PruNiNG SAWS AND CALiPerS AVAiLABLe AT

uTGA