Uganda BioHub

The New Forests Company (NFC) aim to support an additional 5,000 hectares of sustainably and responsibly managed forest landscape restoration in Uganda:

• 2,500 hectares - directly managed by NFC, as a mixture of regenerated areas for conservation and commercial
  trees.

• 2,500 hectares - managed by local Out-growers, with supervision and support from the developers. Support would include providing seedlings and other inputs, and training and capacity building in areas such as tree growing, intercropping and agroforestry, as well as microfinance to provide regular cashflow for farmers.

NFC manages its forests and plantations in accordance with the NGP concept and FSC forest management principles. In addition, the FSC Ecosystem Services procedure could be used to verify and potentially generate economic value from the ecosystem services the landscape provides, such as biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

A landscape stewardship platform and Living Laboratory will be developed, including the Company, the Out-grower communities, NGP, WWF and local government, to ensure buy-in from all local stakeholders, to protect the environment and to promote learning, capacity building and entrepreneurship that promotes the circular bio-economy.

Project Impact

The project will restore a forest landscape of 5,000ha in Uganda and protect it from deforestation, while also producing commercial timber products for the market. Half the land will be managed through support to smallholder tree growers, directly providing seedlings, trainings, capacity building, agroforestry, access to alternate livelihoods and financial inclusion. The Uganda BioHub will stimulate local economic development through employment and development of forest and non-forest products, such as apiculture, while providing ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, water and soil quality management and biodiversity protection.

Project Timeline

• Year 1: Project establishment ; Selecting the 5,000ha landscape; Stakeholder Engagement; Land Tenure; Baseline ESG assessments; Key resources and securing inputs (seedlings, PPE etc.)

• Year 2: Agreements with Out-growers; Community Trainings; Access roads and basic facilities (office, water) Land preparation (weeding) and planting

• Year 3: Alternate Livelihoods development (Apiculture; agroforestry) Carbon landscape project development; Commercial planting and enrichment of conservation areas

• Year 4: Financial Inclusion for communities; Fire and environmental protection training; continue planting

• Year 5: Community Trainings; 1st Thinnings; Carbon verification and 1st issuance of credits