A new project powered by One Tree Planted and supported by the Jane Goodall Institute aims to plant 3 million trees in the Albertine Rift in Uganda.
The Wildlife Habitat & Corridor Restoration Project plans to ‘protect, improve, and recover Uganda forests, which face a multitude of threats that contribute to wide-spread degradation,’ the organisation writes.
Uganda is a naturally forest-rich country, but has been exploited by human development.
‘Over the last 25 years, millions of hectares of forest have been lost due to the increasing impact of human settlement, large and small scale agriculture, logging and fire. One Tree Planted’s contribution of funding will significantly aid in the long-term success of restoration efforts.’
The Albertine Rift forest is home to 50% of birds, 39% of mammals, 19% of amphibians, and 14% of reptiles and plants of mainland Africa.
It also conserves more threatened and endemic species than any other region of Africa, and as a result is a Biodiversity Hotspot, a Global 200 Ecoregion and an Endemic Bird Area, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
‘We need to protect the existing forests. We need to try and restore the forest and the land around the forest that has not been degraded for too long, where the seeds and roots in the ground can sprout up and once again reclaim that land and make it an amazing forest ecosystem,’ said Dr. Jane Goodall of the project.
Picture: Unsplash
