Assessing the impacts of eucalyptus plantation to the livelihood of the people in the community, a case study of Kaweri central forest reserve in eastern division Mubende municipality.

Abstract

The study was carried out in four villages which include; Kilyanono, Kigamba, Kabatende and Kibyayi in the Eastern division of Kaweri Mubende District. The aim was to generate information about the impacts of Eucalyptus plantation to the livelihood of the people in the community. This was important in. choosing the appropriate alternative in restoration and management of the forest reserves in Uganda. This was done by examining the current and former benefits obtained by the people, finding out the problems faced by the people residing around Kaweri central forest reserve and assessing the. attitude of people towards management of Kaweri central forest reserve in its current state. Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain information about the benefits of the forest reserve, problems faced by people residing around and people's attitudes management. The information gathered was coded and entered into the Microsoft excel which was further analyzed with the use of two software packages (SPSS and Microsoft excel) The findings indicate that a natural forest had mere benefits as compared to the eucalyptus plantation because a natural forest used to comprise of the beneficial tree species such as Ficus, Euphobia, Misopsis, Albizia Zigia, Mikaymia Retea, Sapium, Acacia, Maesa, Spathodea. Myrica and these used to provide services (direct and indirect) which improved the living standards of the people by then and when it was restored by NFA through planting Eucalyptus tree species an alternative, the services which were obtained from the reserve before reduced and contributed to more challenges which are faced by the people residing around the reserve such as water scarcity, reduced crop yields, dry spell, loss of firewood and poverty.