THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS’ SETTLEMENTS ON THE ABUNDANCE, DIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION OF INDIGENOUS TREE RESOURCES IN THE SHEA PARKLANDS OF NORTHERN UGANDA BY ADOKORACH JOYCE BSC ETB (Hons.) MAK A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY 2010 DECLARATION I, Adokorach Joyce, declare that this dissertation is my original work and has never been submitted for any Masters Degree award in this University or any other Institution of Higher Learning. All the information in this dissertation is a result of my personal work unless otherwise stated. Signature…………………………. Date………………………. Adokorach Joyce This dissertation has been submitted with the approval of my supervisors: Signature........................................... Date................................... Prof. H. Oryem-Origa Supervisor Department of Botany Faculty of Science Makerere University Signature………………………….. Date……………………… Dr. John Bosco Lamoris Okullo Supervisor Dept. of Forest Biology and Ecosystems Management Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation Makerere University ii DEDICATION I dedicate this book to Baba, Mr. C. Anywar and posthumous Mummy, Ms. Mary Bigabwenda Anywar and all my brothers: Henry, Clovis, Josephat and Bony-fast and sisters: Consolata and Amelia. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the Madhvani Group of companies for the financial support towards my tuition through their scholarship programme. I am also grateful to COVOL –Lira for providing me with their motorbike which I used while in the field. I would also like to acknowledge the partial financial support rendered to me for data collection by Dr. J.B.L. Okullo through African Forest Research Network (AFORNET) funded research project entitled “Ecology, Ethnobotany and Conservation of shea butter tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) in the farmed parklands of Uganda and Ethiopia”. Thanks also to Mr. Abwango Patrick and his wife, Betty who tirelessly accommodated me while in the field. I am very grateful to all my Field Assistants: Ogwang Alex, Okwi Remmy, Ogwal Ronald, Oyoo James and Ochan Denis who assisted me with data collection in all the six sub counties. I also appreciate the support given by Mr. Andy Pritchard of Cooperazione Internationale (COOPI) - Lira while in the field. More appreciation goes to Mr. Buyinza Joel for his unlimited guidance on data analysis and Mr. Nyakoojo who offered me space in his office so that I could concentrate on this work. I am particularly thankful to my supervisors: Prof. H. Oryem-Origa and Dr. J.B.L. Okullo for their constructive comments that greatly shaped this dissertation. I would also like to appreciate the advice and support given by colleagues at MUIENR. Lastly, my sincere thanks go to my parents for their encouragement, brothers and sisters for their moral and financial support and all those persons who contributed in one way or another to the completion of this study. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Content Page DECLARATION ............................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ viii LIST OF PLATES ............................................................................................................ ix LIST OF ACRONYMS/ ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................... x ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1 1.1 Background.............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................... 2 1.3 Aim and Objectives.................................................................................................. 3 1.3.1 Aim ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3.2 Specific Objectives .................................................................................................. 3 1.4 Research questions ................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Hypotheses .............................................................................................................. 4 1.6 Justification.............................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 6 2.1 Humans and plant use in the shea parkland .............................................................. 6 2.2 Traditional Knowledge on the management and conservation of indigenous rees ..... 7 2.3 Impact of human settlement on the environment .................................................. .10 2.4 Policies for conservation of natural resources ........................................................ 13 2.5 Uganda‟s position in relation to International Conventions .................................... 16 3.1 Study Area ............................................................................................................ 17 3.1.1 Geographical Location .......................................................................................... 17 3.2 Methods ................................................................................................................ 19 3.2.1 Research Design ................................................................................................... 19 3.2.4 Tree Inventory and Plot establishment ................................................................... 22 3.2.5 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ....................................................................................... 27 4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents ............................................ 27 4.2 Ethno-uses of the shea and other indigenous trees .................................................. 28 4.3 On-farm traditional management and conservation strategies of shea tree resources 31 4.4 Attitude of the local people towards conservation of indigenous tree species .......... 32 4.4.1 Reasons for not planting or protecting Vitellaria paradoxa ..................................... 33 4.4.2 Willingness of the local people to conserve shea and other tree species .................. 33 4.5 Abundance of shea and other tree species in Lango and Acholi sub regions ........... 34 4.5.1 General abundance of indigenous tree resources in Lango and Acholi sub region ... 34 4.5.2 Relative abundance of shea and other tree species in and around IDP camps in Lango and Acholi sub-regions. ......................................................................................... 36 4.6 Indigenous tree species diversity in the shea parklands of Northern Uganda ........... 40 4.6.1 Genreral species diversity indices for indigenous tree species in the sudy area ......... 41 4.6.2 Indigenous species diversity in Lango and Acholi subregions....................................42 v CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ..................................................................................413 5.1 Socio-demographic characteristic of the respondents .............................................. 43 5.1.1 Ethno uses of indigenous tree species in the shea parklands of northern Uganda .... 43 5.2 On-farm traditional management and conservation strategies of shea and other indigenous trees ..................................................................................................... 46 5.2.1 Willingness to plant shea and other indigenous trees .............................................. 50 5.3 Influence of IDPs on the abundance of shea and other indigenous tree species ....... 51 5.3.1 The Influence of IDPs on the diversity of indigenous tree resources ....................... 54 5.4 The Influence of forest policies on implementation of improved tree management practices in the shea parkland ................................................................................. 56 5.4.1 Opportunities for natural resource management ..................................................... 58 5.4.2 Bye-laws and policy framework for the conservation of natural resources .............. 61 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................. 65 6.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 65 6.2 Recommendations .................................................................................................. 65 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 68 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 76 Appendix I Questionnaire used to collect socio-economic data ......................................... 76 Appendix II Tree inventory data sheet used ...................................................................... 82 Appendix III Use categories of tree species encountered in the study area ........................ 83 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1: Class sizes of trees and plot size ..................................................................... 23 Table 2: Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents .................................... 27 Table 3: Ethno-uses of indigenous trees commonly utilized by the local people ........... 28 Table 4: The tree species commonly utilised by the local communities in the area ....... 30 Table 5: Local tree management and conservation strategies used in the area ............... 31 Table 6: Motivations for protecting the shea trees on-farm ........................................... 32 Table 7: Reasons for not planting or protecting shea trees on-farms ............................. 33 Table 8: Logistic regression of socio-demographic characteristics influencing and people‟s attitude towards conservation of indigenous trees ............................ 34 Table 9: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of tree species density from the IDP camp centre outwards in the Lango sub region ................................................................... 40 Table 10: Shannon Weiner species diversity indices for indigenous tree species from the centre outwards of the camps.......................................................................... 41 Table 11: Shannon Weiner species diversity indices for indigenous tree species in Lango and Acholi sub-regions………………………………..……………………....42 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1 Map of the study area with sampled sub counties and parishes ......................... 17 Figure 2 Systematic representation of plot establishment format along each transect ...... 22 Figure 3 Sampled plots in Acholi sub region .................................................................. 23 Figure 4 Sampled plots in Aloi, Adwari and Olilim sub counties in Lango sub ............. 24 Figure 5 Abundance of mature tree species in Lango and Acholi sub region ................. 34 Figure 6 Abundance of poles in Lango and Achoil sub regions ..................................... 35 Figure 7 Abundance of saplings in Lango and Achoil sub regions ................................. 36 Figure 8 Abundance of mature trees near the camps in Lango and Achoil ..................... 36 Figure 9 Abundance of mature trees far away from IDP camps in Lango and Achoil .... 37 Figure 10 Abundance of poles near the IDP camps in Lango and Achoil ........................ 38 Figure 11 Abundance of poles far away from the IDP camps in Lango and Acholi ......... 38 Figure 12 Abundance of saplings near the IDP camps in Lango &Achoil sub regions ..... 39 Figure 13 Abundance of saplings far away from IDP camps in Lango and Achoil............ 40 viii LIST OF PLATES Plate Page Plate 1: Fresh Shea fruits……………………. …………………………….…….…….. 28 Plate 2: Billets of wood ready for charcoal production ………………………………....28 Plate 3: Firewood collected from the shea parkland near the camp ……………………. 41 Plate 4: A man carrying a bundle of Grewia mollis for construction purpose.…………..41 Plate 5: Shea nut oil being processed locally …………………………………...….…... 41 Plate 6: Crop cultivation in the area where trees were not cut near the camp ……........43 Plate 7: Mature shea trees growing along a road and are well protected ………………44 Plate 8: Mature shea trees cut down for charcoal near a camp in Acholi sub region ... 48 Plate 9: A well protected shea tree: protecting such a big size requires good governance and local-community participation ……..…………………...……………………....… 54 ix LIST OF ACRONYMS/ ABBREVIATIONS CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBOs Community Based Organizations CFM Collaborative Forest Management COOPI Cooperation Internationale COVOL Cooperative Office for Voluntary Organization DBH Diameter at Breast Height DOH Department of Health EIA Environment Impact Assessment FAO Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations FGD Focus Group Discussion FD Forest Department GPS Global Positioning System GoU Government of Uganda IDPs Internally Displaced Persons IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature ITS Indigenous Tree Species JFM Joint Forest Management LC Local Councils LRA Lord‟s Resistance Army MAAIF Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industries and Fisheries MFPED Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development MDGs Millennium Development Goals MWLE Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment NARO National Agricultural Research Organization NEAP National Environment Action Plan NEMA National Environment Management Authority NFA National Forest Authority NGOs Non Governmental Organizations NRA/M National Resistance Army/Movement NUSPA Northern Uganda Shea Processors Association OFDA Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance PEAP Poverty Eradication Action Plan PMA Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture UDIH Uganda Districts Information Handbook UN United Nations UNOCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs WID Wetlands Inspectorate Division x