Johnson studied the use of plant products obtained from the forest. In particular she
drew attention to the income-generating use of the rattan climber (Calamus deëratus)
found in swampy areas of Budongo. This, in combination with mahogany, was made
into fine chairs and sofas which could be sold locally or in Kampala. Such furniture was
still being made by local carpenters in the late 1990s (Fig. 10.2) although supplies were
getting increasingly hard to find.
Another use of the forest was to make charcoal from slow-burning fallen trees, to collect
herbs and other plant products for medicinal purposes, either for personal use or for
treating others in the case of herbalists, and to collect particular barks and other forest
items for either white (protective) or black (destructive) witchcraft. Among protective
charms are some, still in use today, that will protect from ‘night dancers’, people with a
grudge against you who dance outside your house at night and bewitch you. Destructive
items are not talked about and it would indeed be dangerous to get involved with
witchcraft in this part of Uganda because it remains a subject that inspires fear and trem-
bling in many up-country folk, where sudden sickness or death are part of everyday
experience and are often attributed to malice and witchcraft on the part of others.
Wild plants commonly used for food by local people and obtained from the Budongo
Forest included fruits, green leafy vegetables, mushrooms and tubers. Of these, guavas
and mushrooms were sold at the local Karongo market and thus contributed a little cash
to some families. Forest plants were also used for medicinal purposes, e.g. the bark of
the forest tree Alstonia booneiwas reported by 37 respondents to be used for the treatment
of various stomach complaints including stomach worms. Balanites aegypticawas used
Local uses of forest products 195Fig. 10.2: Carpenter with furniture made from local materials (photo: K. Johnson).