Environment Ministry, Stanbic Launch Manwa Forest Restoration Campaign

What the report says

The Ministry of Water and Environment and Stanbic Bank Uganda have launched a forest restoration campaign at Manwa Local Forest Reserve in Masaka City, with the effort focused on degraded sections of the 144-hectare reserve in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division. According to Nile Post, the campaign combines tree planting with community outreach aimed at protecting newly planted trees and encouraging residents to help conserve the forest.

Officials at the launch stressed that the project’s success depends on local participation. Forestry expert Saul Ndyabandiho called on nearby communities to guard seedlings, keep livestock away from planted areas and report illegal tree cutting. Community members said the forest helps support agriculture, provides access to medicinal plants and may lessen the impact of drought in the area. Local leaders, however, said roughly 30 hectares of the reserve have already been destroyed, raising concern about the forest’s long-term condition.

The initiative is part of Stanbic Bank Uganda’s environmental programme linked to its 35th-anniversary activities. The bank said more than 20,000 trees have already been planted under the wider conservation effort, which aims for 700,000 trees overall. Bank officials and ministry representatives both framed the campaign as a shared responsibility involving government, private sector partners and residents.

Local leaders also used the launch to call for stronger enforcement against forest destruction. For the surrounding communities, the campaign matters because the reserve supports livelihoods and environmental stability, while its recovery could help safeguard biodiversity, water resources and agricultural activity in the area.