Abstract

In the large forested areas of the Zaïre and Amazon basins human densities are low, and disturbance by "forest peoples" creates rather than reduces diversity, forming a mosaic of vegetation types at different stages of recovery after disturbance.

Afromontane forests are at the opposite extreme. Situated in one of the most densely populated areas of Uganda, the remaining forests formerly occupied by the Batwa have become the focus for harvesting of plant resources by the farmers who cleared them. They have also become the subject of national and international conservation efforts.

Afromontane forests in western Uganda, and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in particular, are now fragmented islands, surrounded by rural farmlands. Under these circumstances, sustainable forest management differs greatly from the use of low species diversity, highly productive reedbeds or thatch-grassland, where harvesting is seasonal, obvious and easy to manage. Recovery from harvesting in productive annual systems is also short, due to annual production of above-ground biomass. Instead of the short rotation applied in reed cutting, sustainable harvesting of forest for timber is usually aimed at rotation times of 50-200 years.

In Bwindi Forest, the effects of pitsawing and agricultural clearing in the past are superimposed on differences in vegetation caused by topography and soil type. This results in patchy distribution both of species and size class categories of the trees or shrubs used for bellows, building poles, beer boats or bean stakes. It also influences the availability of these resources, either increasing the number of young saplings (bean stakes, building poles) or colonizing species (e.g. Polyscias fulva (omungo)) in disturbed sites. It has also decreased stocks of large hardwoods, due to overexploitation and competing uses for timber (e.g. Prunus africana (omumba) and Newtonia buchananii (omutoyo)), despite the "reserved" status of hardwoods.

This report focuses on resource use and management issues relating to wild plants and multiple-use zoning in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Foresters usually group products into two categories for forest management purposes: major forest products (such as timber, fuelwood or other wooden products), and minor forest products (all non-wooden products). The results and recommendations of this report are presented first for the latter category, involving mainly specialist users of non-wood products, including wild plant resources, honey, basketry and bamboo use. The various uses of wood, the major forest products, (e.g. blacksmiths, carved wooden handcrafts, beer boats, building poles, bean stakes) are then considered.

These recommendations need to be seen as part of an ongoing process of interaction between the rural community surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the park management, with DTC (Development Through Conservation) project staff at the interface between the two groups.

Specialist user groups within rural communities surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, having a good knowledge of plant resources, can form an important interface between the National Park or DTC staff and the rural community in general. They also represent groups of resource users with a common interest in beekeeping, traditional medicines, basketry or other uses. All of these are recognized for their skills within communities and by the Resistance Council (RC) system. Many are already members of organizations established either on community initiative or through the combined interests of the community and Ugandan government departments.

Key species to specialist users are Faurea saligna (omulengere) and Sericostachys scandens (omuna) for hives and honey; Rytigynia kigeziensis (nyakibazi) to treat internal parasites; Loeseneriella apocynoides (omujega) and Smilax anceps (enshuli) for basketry, bamboo for building and granaries and Rapanea melanophloeos (omukone) for carved sticks. The use of edible plants is generally limited to famine periods, with Myrianthus holstii (omufe) fruits and Dioscorea (ebikwa) tubers most favoured.

Three size classes of woody plants are favoured for beer boats (>50 cm dbh), building material (5-15 cm dbh) or bean poles (1.5-5 cm dbh). These size classes represent successive stages of trees forming the forest: canopy, sub-canopy and understorey. Straight hardwoods are selected for their durability for building (e.g.

Drypetes (omushabarara) species) and beer boats (e.g. Newtonia buchananii (omutoyo)), although less durable Ficus species (ekyitoma) are also used as they are easier to carve.

Bean stakes are selected on the basis of size and abundance rather than species. Alchornea hirtella (ekizogwa) is favoured, however, as it readily produces a high density of thin stems. If saplings of canopy species fit into this size class then they are also cut. These species are not only a useful resource to local people, they also represent the forest canopy of the next century.

Recommendations for forest product use by specialist groups within multiple-use areas fall into four categories:

1. open access to specialist users (e.g. bee-keepers, non-commercial harvesting of medicinal plants);
2. seasonal access to popular plant resources with limited distribution by harvesters elected within user groups (e.g. Marantaceae used for basketry);
3. seasonal and rotational management by specialist harvesters (e.g. bamboo; Loeseneriella apocynoides (omujega) and possibly Rapanea melanophloeos (omukone)), with potential users involved in resource assessments and setting of quotas;
4. continued closed access to resources where sustained use is not possible, due either to complexity, high demand or slow growth rates (beer boats, building poles, bean poles and possibly fuelwood) and where the emphasis needs to be placed on providing alternatives outside the National Park.

Additional recommendations are made for future research and monitoring, including the involvement of resource users and traditional experts as research partners. Special mention is made of the valuable role that Batwa people can play in research on forest ecology and in inventory work as "parataxonomists".

If resource harvesting is not sustainable, then it is a false solution, providing brief respite from land-use conflict and putting off the real solutions to the problem. At present, this is con-sidered to be the case for some wood uses (beer boats, bean stakes and building poles) due to the combination of past impacts, high demand and limited staff for complex management.

Cultivation of trees is widely practised in the DTC area already. In a recent survey conducted in this area, for example, Eucalyptus (88% of 120 respondents) and Acacia mearnsii (49%) were the species most preferred for building and had respectively been planted by 77% and 36% of respondents. From field observation, it is clear that many homes in the DTC area are built from these cultivated tree species (particularly Eucalyptus), with the use of exotic species increasing with distance away from the forest. It is recommended that self-sufficiency in these categories of wood use is facilitated through development of nurseries and by the supply of seedlings to interested growers.

Cultivation efforts could also involve production of favoured and effective medicinal plants and craftwork species, through a collaborative effort between DTC, IFCP/ITFC (Impenetrable Forest Conservation Project/Institute for Tropical Forest Conservation), primary health care initiatives and local ICRAF (International Centre for Research in Agroforesty) groups.

Tree planting activities need to be focused particularly on steep sites, high human population density parishes, and adjacent to critical parts of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (e.g. the Kitahurira corridor and Ngoto Swamp areas). The current problems faced by generally landless Batwa people and their need for land have been highlighted in previous reports. Involvement in forest conservation, beekeeping, research and eco-tourism activity as specialist guides and conservation staff can provide an alternative means of income from a remnant of the forest their forefathers formerly occupied. At least for some, income through these activities could enable land aquisition and a continued link with the forest.