Projects
project Themes
The section of Nile riverbank in Bubugo has been deforested for timber, firewood and cultivation, the result of this has been high rates of soil erosion and substantial losses of biodiversity in a critical riverside ecosystem. As community members depend on these soils for their livelihoods, a restoration approach must provide tangible benefits from the area to the community.
Trees and bees
Our objective is for the Nile riverbank to be a lush indigenous forest full of biodiversity and at-risk fauna protected by, and providing benefit to, the local communities. Our Trees and Bees programme seeks to strengthen community groups on their governance and structure, and provide them with the necessary training to become caretakers of the riverbank, whilst sustainably benefiting from the area through beekeeping and harvesting of non-timber products. Through this approach we enhance community cohesion and empower our community to manage the environment in a sustainable way. We partner with Mailaka Honey for training and the sale of honey from beehives established in the riverbank conservation area, giving the community the opportunity to earn an alternative income.
Our objective is to identify and develop innovative market opportunities for our community that provide them with a living wage and bring their households above the poverty line. Our business development is also focused on identifying opportunities that do not degrade the environment, and in fact enhance it.
Livelihood Opportunities
The first of these businesses is UgandaMade, a UK registered company that works with the women in our community to develop unique craft products that are sustainably sourced and are biodegradable. UgandaMade works closely with the women of Bubugo on product development, quality control, and accesses market for the sale of their unique creations.
With increasingly unpredictable weather events and loss of soil quality, but being highly dependent on subsistence agriculture, our community are very vulnerable to environmental change.
sustainable agriculture
We are currently exploring a range of opportunities for our community to improve agricultural land management and the restoration of trees into the farming landscape for medicinal, cultural, fodder, nutritional and carbon gain. Through the development of a sustainable agricultural management programme, we aim to have 50% of farmers within a 2km radius of BCT Headquarters as meeting the requirements for BCTs sustainable above and below ground - soils, trees and crop management certification.
While the majority of the >5,000 households around BCT’s Headquarters use firewood for their cooking fuel, access to this material is increasingly restricted due to widespread deforestation and degradation.
improved cookstoves and
biogas distribution
Bubugo Conservation Trust has developed a programme for the construction of clay stoves within households, reducing the amount of firewood needed to cook and improving household health due to reduced smoke and safer cooking. Our longer-term vision is to develop a large-scale biogas digestor for distribution of clean cooking gas to households.
