Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

178 Carved wooden drums and trade in Mpigi district, Uganda

Figure 3. The Republic of Uganda’s coat of arms includes a drum

the government still fails to offer any direct investment or incentives for

development of raw material production. The wood harvesters are aware

that their activities are carried out illegally.

Forest Department records of 1998 to 2000 showed that a running volume

of softwood species (under which the drum making tree species fall) is valued

at US$20/m^3 (on average a whole tree stem). This volume yields on average 10

drums of 30 cm to 45 cm top diameter, which earns US$200 to US$300, and

another 10 drums of 10 cm to 15 cm top diameter, which bring an additional

income of US$100 to US$150. This calculation excludes smaller drums of less

than 10 cm top diameter obtained from tree branches. Despite these financial

benefits there is no clear policy to regulate drum making, something that

should have been spelt out clearly in the Forest Policy.

The collaborative forest management unit of the Forest Department and the

Mpanga Forest Ecotourism Project offered the opportunity for involving the local

community in forest management while generating revenue from the forest.

Owing to financial constraints and inadequate staff, the Forest Department has

failed to implement collaborative forest management successfully in Mpanga

and the unit was disbanded. Continued tree harvesting in Mpanga forest reserve

for drum making therefore is a disincentive to tree planting to provide wood for

making drum frames. Plantation of the favoured tree species on the other hand

would act as a source of income from sustainable sources. In the long run this

would alleviate the abject poverty of the communities in Mpigi district by

guaranteeing an income from the already well-established markets. Successful

collaboration among drum makers, local community and Forest Department

would be a sound basis for achieving the goals of forest conservation and

sustainable use of forest resources in Mpigi district.

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