Communities driving locally led restoration efforts to revitalize Bubeke Community Forest in Kalangala District, Uganda.

Deep in Kalangala District in Uganda lies the Bubeke sacred rain forest, once a home to 13 sacred natural sites protected by Basese custodians who enforced customary governance systems. But over the years, waves of oil-palm plantations and charcoal making have eaten away at Bubeke’s edges.

Margret Nakazibwe, a 50-year-old smallholder farmer and a resident of the area recalls how depleted fish stocks in Lake Victoria drove families into unsustainable charcoal burning and timber cutting. She notes that this biodiversity depletion in addition to climate change and traditional seed loss have increased the vulnerability of communities in Kalangala especially smallholder farmers who rely on climate-stricken subsistence farming for livelihood. “We thought cutting the trees would feed our families,” she reflects, “but the forest that protected us was disappearing. As indigenous seed varieties dwindled and the climate shifted, crops have failed more frequently, and ancestral customs lost their grip on a community in crisis.”

Seeing this struggle, African Institute for Culture and Ecology (AFRICE) with support from our partners, is supporting the revival of traditional seeds and ecological governance systems by facilitating learning from elders who still carry traditional knowledge leading to greater seed and food sovereignty and biodiversity conservation. Through intergenerational community dialogues, agroecology trainings, and learning exchanges, women farmers, young people, and cultural leaders are learning how to bring back traditional seeds and traditional practices that protect their land.

“I grew up knowing our seeds and our rituals,” says 67-year-old Teopista Nakanjako. “But now, hybrid seeds are everywhere. They grow fast but have no meaning in our ceremonies.” Without the right seeds, she explains, they cannot honor their sacred sites. And without respect for these places, people cut more trees for charcoal and palm oil growing, only to find their crops failing in poor soil.

Teopista is passing on the story of how seeds and rituals once kept the forest alive. She teaches young people that each seed carries life and connects them to their ancestors. “Our heritage and our identity depend on this,” she says in one of the intergenerational community dialogues. “If we lose it, the next generation will struggle.”

She says small holder farmers, particularly women who are often custodians of indigenous seed knowledge are now working to revive the indigenous seed varieties not only for food security as they are climate-resilient but also to perform rituals in the sacred natural sites.

One of the recent intergenerational community dialogue with the Bassese community

The Nkima Clan elder, William Kamanyiro, says that signing a Memorandum of Understanding with AFRICE to replant the 2 square miles of forest has given everyone fresh energy. “People are motivated and are actively taking part in establishment of tree nursery beds,” he laughs. “They want to restore what we once had.”

Kamanyiro says Basese communities have established community tree nurseries where they have started raising native trees, providing a source of trees for restoration efforts. He says the indigenous tree seeds are collected from within and around the forest, ensuring that the trees are native to the area and are adapted to the local environment.

He says local communities are actively involved in the nursery management and planting, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility for the forest’s restoration. “

Here, they grow native trees from mahogany to wild mango so each seedling can one day stand tall in Bubeke’s soil,” she said.

Dennis Tabaro, the Executive Director AFRICE, stresses that AFRICE’s mission extends beyond planting trees alone. He said it is a concerted effort to restore the customary laws that once protected these forests. He says AFRICE draws on lessons from Buliisa where the customary governance systems have already been recognized by the district council of Buliisa Local Government.

As the first tree seedlings take root under the watchful eyes of women seed keepers and newly empowered elders, hope is stirring once more and promises to rekindle the cultural identity of the Basese.

Part of the destroyed Bubeke Forest targeted for replanting

Fifteen years ago, the 2 square miles Bubeke Community Forest, that was protected through ritual practices and customary governance systems. By 2006, however, oil palm plantations and the charcoal trade had carved deep scars into its edge. Between 2010 and 2020, Kalangala District’s Forest cover plunged from 80% to 48%.

But beneath the reforestation efforts and indigenous seed exchange and planting lies a promise that the forest and Basese culture will breathe again.

ENDS//Written by Precious Naturinda, Communication Officer at AFRICE