Nature cannot be hurried

Although Camp Besania is at the border of Wakiso and Luwero districts, it is part of the Nakasongola climate zone whose characteristic features are sparse and thorny trees, wild flowers, thickets, grassland, non-woody plants, subterranean termites, red ants, stony soils, short rains and high instances of drought.  Years of hard work, patience and tree-conscious planning have gone into growing and regenerating such vegetation into the glorious woodland that Camp Besania is today. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” – Lao Tzu.

Because the climate does not support nature-based Agriculture, many locals resort to odd work for survival, including brick making, charcoal burning and stone harvesting while the rich erase the few hard-grown trees for housing estates. No tree is safe from destruction – fruit trees, timber giants and soft woods alike. The slow-growing velvet bushwillow (endagi in Luganda) is among the most endangered species thanks to her hard wood that produces very good charcoal.

Climate-adaptation initiatives like CampBesania face further pressure from hunting, grazing and destructive methods of harvesting firewood and fruits. Hunters and gatherers of herbal medicine are another nuisance; they harvest tree barks which makes the affected trees unsightly. Worst of all, debarking kills the trees by exposing the phloem layer through which their food is transported. Thus the woodland is registered and scouted all the time.