Multiple-use forest values, silvicultural impacts of timber management, and sustainability of forest management in Uganda's Budongo and Mabira Forest Reserves

This study examined multiple-use values, silvicultural impacts of timber management, and the sustainability of forest management in two of Uganda's most important tropical forest reserves. Field data for the study was collected between June and December of 1995.; Multiple-use forest values consisting of six major tropical forest outputs were evaluated in a total of five timber management and two unlogged nature reserve compartments in the two forests, taking into consideration the relative importance of the outputs expressed as weights assigned by three groups of forestry professionals.; A comparison of the multiple-use values of the two forests indicated that timber management compartments which were treated with arboricide or charcoal refining and enrichment planting after logging had higher summed scores of assigned forest output weights x compartment output magnitudes than those which were only treated with arboricide or selectively logged without any amelioration. Unlogged and untreated nature reserve compartments had the lowest summed scores.; Silvicultural impacts of the five timber management prescriptions were examined by evaluating and comparing tree genera richness, evenness, and structure of timber management and unlogged nature reserve compartments in the two forests. The evaluation indicated that while there were significant differences in tree genera richness between most compartments, there was no evidence to support the commonly held view that nature reserve compartments had higher tree genera richness and evenness than timber management ones. The data revealed that tree genera diversity of timber management compartments was similar to or higher than that of nature reserve compartments. There were no major differences in forest structure between all the compartments studied in either forest.; An assessment of the sustainability of management of the two forests, based on International Tropical Timber Organization criteria, indicated that the current forest management regime for the two forests is potentially sustainable mainly due to the presence of a sizable professional staff with substantial management experience, and a legally secure forest estate. Forest management constraints included poor financing, political interference, a high growth rate of a population dependent on subsistence agriculture, widespread illegal activities, and limited investment in supplementary forest production projects such as agroforestry and expansion of industrial plantations.