Started in 2002, Tree
Talk is a national
newspaper and tree-
growing drive. With this
Tree Talk, your school
will receive seed for
Albizia or Terminalia.
Set up a school tree
nursery in 2010 and
"green" your school.
Right: a pupil with
Lusambya seed in Tree
Keep trees on your watershed
Talk's Moyo nursery.
W e all live in a watershed.
A watershed is simply
land and the water that runs
through it, ending up in a river
or lake.
Trees are an extremely
important part of watersheds.
Without trees, water will flow
too quickly and not have time
to slowly enter the ground and
fill your groundwater. Streams
will run dry and water bodies
will become dirty. So let us
learn more about watersheds!
When rain comes, some falls into
streams and flows away. Some rain
falls on hard surfaces, such as rock
or tarmac, and washes into rivers as
"run-off". Some rain falls on the soil
and enters or infiltrates it and becomes
"groundwater".
Trees bring fast results
Money from tree seed. This young girl
in Moyo made UGX 100,000 from selling
20 kg of mahogany seed to Tree Talk.
This tree in Semliki
holds tonnes of
carbon. Its roots
allow water to
percolate deep into
the soil and flow
to your borehole!
Report illegal tree
cutting to National
Forestry Authority
PRO Moses Watasa
2010 on 077-2-976398.
April Protect your
No.2
9
Vol. watershed.
Even if you stay far from a river or lake,
you still live in a watershed because the
These hills in Bundibugyo need more trees to
rain that falls on your home will find its
remain stable, avoid landslides and keep the way to some stream, lake, swamp or
watershed full of clean and plentiful water for aquifer. Try this: take an open umbrella
people and animals. Photo: K Tadie. and turn it upside down in the rain.
All the rain that hits the umbrella will
gather at the bottom in the center of
the umbrella. An umbrella is like a
watershed, collecting all the water that
falls into it and bringing it to one place.
A watershed has three key
functions:
1. receive water from the
atmosphere (rain);
2. store water in the ground so that
we can get it from wells and bore
holes;
3. move water through the soil until
it reaches a river or lake.
Healthy watersheds bring
us clean water for drinking,
cooking and bathing.
A healthy watershed is
Once water infiltrates the soil, it moves Soil has pores that
created by trees. Protect
downwards through "percolation". allow it to absorb trees and grow new ones.
Percolation happens because of gravity, water. Soil that cannot
the force which pulls all things from hold anymore water is
high places to lower ones. Gravity is why "saturated".
water always flows from a high place,
like a mountain ridge, to a lower place
like a valley.
Groundwater also moves through the
soil. Some water ends up in streams,
while some joins underground water
bodies called aquifers. Water from
aquifers feeds your bore hole.
Good income from
sale of seedlings: Jobs for foresters. Tree Talk's
UGX 500-700 for an Immaculate Chelangat holds a
indigenous seedling, diploma from Nyabyeya Forestry
UGX 450-550 for a College in Masindi.
pine seedling. Right:
a Tree Talk women's
group in Adjumani.
Healthy wetlands full
of fish and water.
2 Tree Talk, April 2010
Replanting a degraded watershed in Gulu
P
ece watershed, near Gulu Town,
is a much smaller watershed than
the Nile River watershed, but
it brings water for tens of thousands
of people living in Gulu and Oyam
districts.
Water from Pece flows into the Toci
River, which then flows to the Nile. Toci
is a tributary of the Nile, which means
that it is a smaller river that flows
into the Nile. Big rivers can have many
tributaries.
But now the people of Pece watershed
are suffering. Ojera Julius, of Abole vil-
lage, said they used to get water from
Abole stream, a tributary of Pece. "For
the first time our well is dry. We now
have to walk long distances to another
borehole. The environment had become
too bare of trees. The climate is affect-
ing the water level."
Lakwat-Omer village, neighbouring
Abole, is also part of the Pece water-
shed and shares its water problems.
Residents of Lakwat-Omer and Abole
formed a community association to im-
prove the health of their watershed. The
group is called Ribeber, which means
“unity is good."
Tree Talk teamed up with Ribeber in
2009 to plant 3,500 seedlings of ma-
hogany and albizia.
Amunau Simon Peter, Tree Talk Co-
ordinator, says: "As trees grow, they
increase water retention and revitalise
boreholes. With fully grown trees, you
can be sure of better water availabil-
ity. But where land is bare, water runs
Uganda and the Nile watershed
A
watershed can be any shape
or size, very big or very small.
Large watersheds are made up
of many smaller watersheds.
The Nile is an extremely large
watershed that includes the countries
of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda,
Tanzania, Kenya, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Sudan and Egypt. In Uganda, over
231,366 square kilometres belong to
the Nile River basin – that means
almost all land in Uganda contributes
water to the Nile!
In Uganda there are four major
water catchment areas: Lake Victoria in
the south; Lake Albert in the west;
Lake Kyoga in the centre; and the
Upper Nile in the north. But they are all
connected: Lake Victoria in the south is
linked to Lake Kyoga in the centre. The
Albert Nile connects Lake Kyoga to Lake
Albert in the west, which is also fed by
water from the Semuliki River. Lake
Albert continues to the Upper Nile in
northern Uganda, then on to Sudan and
Egypt.
Watersheds are affected by activities far
away. In Adjumani, fish have become few
because there is less water in the Nile.
Destruction of forests and swamps in
western Uganda - 600 kilometres away! -
has reduced the water flowing to the
small streams that feed the Nile.
The shading shows all the land
being replanted by Tree Talk
and Ribeber. In 2010, Tree
Talk will help plant another
12,000 seedlings and train
the community members in
maintaining their own tree
nurseries.
away to streams and
flows away quickly.
In the replanted ar-
eas of Pece, we may
see higher water lev-
els within 10 years.
But other areas also
need to act to see
real change."
Uganda's 4 water
catchments
How healthy is your watershed?
Water: Is it clean or full of rubbish?
A shine of many colours may
indicate that oil has polluted
the water. Is it clear, or full of
weeds and tiny green and brown
plants called algae? Algae is an
indication of fertilizers in the water.
River banks: Bare spots along the
banks may mean that there is too
Edea Lucy, Tree Talk Data Officer,
handing over mahogany and albizia
seedlings to Ribeber.
Watersheds and forests
contribute 40% of the
rains received in Uganda.
This wetland in Pece is
healthy. Planting trees can
increase water supply.
The Nile River basin
Look at a river near your home
much soil in the river and it is being
left behind. Very steep banks are an
indication of erosion. Trees along the
river banks help to reduce erosion:
do not farm here.
Availability of water: Rivers look
different in the dry and rainy seasons.
However, healthy watersheds should
help keep rivers flowing for longer,
NEW WORDS
Aquifer: underground water supply
accessed by wells and boreholes.
Erosion: when the earth’s surface is
worn away by water and wind
Tributary: a river that flows into a
larger river
Infiltration: when water on the
surface enters the soil
Porous: a porous material is full of tiny
spaces, allowing liquids or gasses to
pass through
Run-off: rain which flows over the
earth’s surface into a river, stream or
lake
Impermeable: a material that is
impermeable does not allow water to
pass through.
even during times of no rain.
Shade: Trees near the river provide
shade and a good environment for
fish.
Wildlife: Animals also like healthy
rivers. If there are no fish, frogs, birds
or insects near the water, something
may be wrong.
 3 Tree Talk, April 2010

Damaged watersheds mean people suffer

T he most important way to
protect your watershed is
to protect existing trees and
plant new ones.
Twenty years ago, 30% of land in
Uganda had forests. Today, it is
less than 10%.
Watersheds that lack trees cause
problems for people. In hilly areas,
there can be landslides; in low-
lying areas, there is the danger of
flooding.
Without trees to replenish rivers,
women and children walk long
distances to fetch water. Drought
leads to crop failure and unhealthy
livestock.
How do trees help? Every part of a
tree supports a healthy watershed.
Roots hold water, keeping too
much rain from reaching the
river at once, which can lead to
A boy stands where his home once was. It was flooding. In the dry season, roots
swept away by the terrible landslide in Budada,
near Mbale. Trees stabilise mountains so that soil
slowly release the water they are
does not fall down into the valley with heavy rains. holding, adding water to rivers and
preventing drought.Sometimes
strong waters from run-off carry
away fertile soil. Where soil has
washed away, we say the land is
eroded. Tree roots hold soil and
nutrients.
Serious erosion has changed the
course of the Semuliki River, on the
border of Uganda and D.R. Congo.
Due to over-cultivation, there
are no trees to hold the soil. The
river banks have shifted: it is now
difficult to tell where the border is.
Tree leaves also hold water. If you
enter a forest after a rain, you
will hear water dripping for many
hours afterwards. Leaves catch
rain and then release it so that it
enters the soil slowly. Mahogany
trees have big leaves for catching
water and improving watershed
health.

Tree-cutting causes landslides What is a landslide?

A n example of an
unhealthy, unstable and
very dangerous watershed
was in Bududa District. On
2 March 2010, a landslide
buried three villages on the
slopes of Mt Elgon. At least
90 people were killed in the
landslide and over 300 are
still missing. As many as 1
million people may have to
leave the area in case more
landslides occur.
Bududa is heavily
populated: as many as
1,059 people are living
in 1 square kilometre of
land, whereas the national
average is 161 people per
square kilometre.
Too many people are
inhabiting an area where
there used to be lots of
trees to hold the soil and
prevent erosion. Many
people are farming on
steep slopes.
Moses Mapesa,
Executive Director of
the Uganda Wildlife
Authority (UWA)
writes:
“Can we avoid similar
disasters in future and
elsewhere? Yes...The
UWA have just recently
concluded agreements with
the Bududa local government
and the community to re-plant
with trees all the degraded and
After the Bududa landslide, 5000
people were moved into temporary
camps.They wait in long lines for food.
encroached areas in the
Mt. Elgon National Park
and the neighbouring
areas...
This arrangement allows
the communities to plant
trees that they benefit
from in form of carbon
credits and also to grow
crops like cabbages,
onions, passion fruits
underneath the trees...
This, however, will take
time; trees require a
minimum of 10 years
to have a proper grip
of the soils. Therefore, A landslide is when soil and rock
prone areas must be move down a slope, pulled by gravity.
avoided and evacuated Landslides can be caused by earthquakes,
in these times of heavy flooding, or human activities like
rains."
deforestation or construction.
Carbon credits are
payments to people The Bududa landslide occurred partly
who grow trees. The because of heavy rains. Water entered the
payment is for the pores in the soil, making the slope heavy
carbon the growing tree
absorbs. Carbon gases
and unstable. Clearing of forests left the
cause global warming. soil bare, without tree roots to hold it.

Trees stabilise hills and slow down climate change

Natural forests are the best
at catching and holding
water and attracting rain.
T rees help regulate the
weather, or climate, but few
trees cannot do the work that
so many forests used to do.
In December 2009, many
scientists and government
leaders met in Copenhagen,
Denmark, to discuss how
to prevent further climate
change.
This meeting was called the
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC). Uganda sent a
team of 60 representatives to
Copenhagen..
Xavier Mugumya, Forest There is a motion in
Management Specialist at place for Uganda to
the National Forest receive funds to
Authority (NFA) and support pockets
an international of preserved
climate change natural forests.
negotiator, says:
Communities
"At Copenhagen, should prepare
countries did not themselves by
conclude discussion starting now
on all the important items. to protect their
But there is good will and remaining natural
recognition that forests forests.”
contribute to regulating climate Swamps in southern Sudan
change. People need incentives and forests in D.R. Congo
to stop cutting trees. help the rain-making
process in Uganda.
4 Tree Talk, April 2010
Tree Talk raising seedlings for schools
In 2009 Tree Talk raised
490,000 seedlings in
its six tree nurseries in
Yumbe, Adjumani, Moyo,
Kitgum, Gulu and Amuru.
These were distributed
to 350 schools, creating
350 acres of woodlots.
Tree Talk supported
40 community groups
to raise an additional
255,000 trees. In all, 20
different types of trees
were raised, including
48,000 mahoganies,
200,000 Lusambya and
7000 Mvule.
If you are a school
or CBO anywhere in
Uganda and would like
to work more closely
with Tree Talk, write to
Free seed for schools
With this Tree Talk,
schools in the water
catchment areas of
Albert and Kyoga
get seed for Albizia
chinensis. It is good for
timber, shade, erosion
control and stabilising
slopes.
Schools in the water
catchment areas of Upper
Nile and Victoria receive
seed for Terminalia superba,
the "umbrella tree." It is
good for timber and shade.
Plant your tree seed as
soon as you receive it:
• For Terminalia, remove
the "wings" on the outside
of the seed if they are still there. Soak
the seed in cold water for 24 hours.
Anyone can plant trees!
Angela Anyua is a
member of Watemu
Lapainat Agrofor-
estry Association, a
group of 38 women
who grow trees in
the Pece watershed
in Gulu. Angela sold
100 trees as poles,
earning UGX 800,000 to pay for her
daughter’s fees at Gulu University.
After training from
Tree Talk, Adjumani
Government Prison planted
12,520 trees and are
aiming for 1 million! Says
ASP Ebong Patrick: “Any
environment with trees is
conducive to human beings.
Soon every prison will take
up tree planting. We need to reforest
Tree Talk is a project of Straight Talk Foundation
Plot 4 Acacia Avenue, Kololo
PO Box 22366, Kampala. Tel. 0312-262030/1.
PO Box 22366, Kampala
or call Tree Talk's Gaster
Kiyingi on 077-2-448110.
Tree Talk's nurseries in Kitgum
He says: "Tree growing and Adjumani (inset) produced
is a valuable venture, over 300,000 seedlings in 2009.
capable of earning
schools a lot of money,
but it requires planning."
Thanks to their woodlot,
Payipi PS in Pader
has paid teachers'
salaries. Koro Abili
PS in Gulu renovated
old classrooms. Other
schools around the
country have also grown
trees from Tree Talk
seed.
Write and tell us how
your school has used its
tree seed. Best letters
win a Tree Talk T-shirt.
Defend your trees from bush fires
• For Albizia, wash and Protect your trees
soak in water for 18 1. Create a fire line around your
hours. woodlot: Remove bushes to make a bare
• Fill a pot or polythene space 5m wide all the way around to stop
bag with soil. Place the fire from entering.
seed just beneath the
surface. Keep the pot in 2. Build a fire break: Clear a line 3m
the shade. Water every Bush fires can occur naturally, but wide down the middle of your woodlot.
morning and evening. humans also start fires for hunting, Remove all bushes and brush. If a fire
• Albizia will germinate in clearing land or out of recklessness. starts in the woodlot, the fire break will
7 days and Terminalia Bush fires can get out of prevent it from spreading.
in 15-25 days. control, burning homes and
• As the seedlings grow, killing people. They destroy 3. Remove all dead brush
slowly remove the trees and damage soil fertility and leaves from your
shade. by removing moisture and woodlot.
• Transplant Terminalia killing small, useful organisms
seedlings to the that break down nutrients. There are only small, short-
field 4 weeks after term gains from bush burning.
germination, and Francis Oja, District Forestry Does it make sense to burn
Albizia after 6-8 weeks. Officer in Adjumani, says: “We are talking trees while chasing one edible rat worth
Keep watering. to communities about these dangers. UGX 10,000 when two acres of pine
Under a new ordinance, people who burn at three years of age are worth UGX 5
will be fined, made to do community million?
service work, or imprisoned.”
Radio listeners in the
north know the voice of
YOUR LETTERS
because with Kaka Simon! He took
Dear Tree Talk - After the forests were
this climate part in a Tree Talk
cleared, rainfall decreased and didn't
oscillation of workshop and has not
fall in the right season. There have been
ours, anything stopped talking about
terrible floods in recent years because
can happen.” trees!
there is not enough vegetation to control
the speed of the rainwater. Without trees,
He says, "I have
the fertile soil is washed away.
Above: S4 students from the tree-planting personally witnessed
Thembo H, 12, Bundibugyo PS
club at Adjumani SS catchment areas drying off. We used to
have hippopotamus in the Pagire
Dear Tree Talk - My family is normally
River but now you move on foot
burning charcoal and getting money for
anywhere and you can’t even
school fees. But if you burn trees in your
step on water. We as media
area you cannot receive enough rainfall.
can be fundamental in bringing
Mutebi R, Greenland PS, Bundibugyo
environmental change. I started
spreading messages on my radio
programs. Now the community How has
your school used
always asks questions and shares
stories." Tree Talk seed, or benefited
from trees? Write to PO Box
Tune in to Kaka’s program on
92.4 Luo FM. 22366, Kampala. Best
letters win T-shirts!
This issue was funded by DANIDA, with a contribution from the WILD project,
supported by USAID and led by Wildlife Conservation Society.
Editor: K Manchester; Contributors: G Kiyingi, C Watson, P Nyeko ; Design: AD Bulamu;
Reviewers: G Kiyingi, SP Amunau