Bugoma Central Forest Reserve

Location:

Bugoma CFR lies in Hoima District in Western Uganda in Bugahya and Buhaguzi counties with an altitude range of 990-1300m above sea level between 1o 07' and 1o 25'N, and 30o 48' and 31o 07'E, and its area is 401km2.

Management History:

It is under the jurisdiction of the National Forest Authority since 2003. Was gazetted as and demarcated Forest Reserve by the legal Notice No. 87 of 1932, and was under the management of the Forest Department till the institutional restructuring recommendations of 2003. By the end of 1960s, working plans and management plan had been prepared from all gazetted forest reserves in Uganda, and some cases these had passed through a series of revisions, usually 5-10 year intervals. Owing to its poorer accessibility and mahogany content, no large`scale timber exploitation was undertaken until the demands of the 1939-45 war rendered it an economic proposition.

Biodiversity status:
Vegetation can be classified as medium altitude semi-deciduous forest. About half of the forested part of the reserve is dominated by Iron wood (Cynometra alexandri). A third of the area is mixed forest, with the remainder being poor, hill and colonizing forest types. The flora and fauna is diverse and of marked conservation importance. In terms of the conservation value, of the species in the forest, Bugoma is above average for birds, butterflies and large moths. 108 species are classified as restricted-range. Summary of biodiversity and conservation importance of five indicators taxa surveyed are as follows:

Trees and Shrubs              257
Birds                                 221
Small Mammals                  21
Butterflies                         292
Large Moths                     119

The Nahan’s Francolin categorised by the 2007 IUCN Red list as an Endangered species has been recorded in the forest. Other endeagnred species in the forest include the Chimpazees

Ecological functions

The forest reserve occupies rolling country, which drains towards Lake Albert in the West. There is only one permanent river, the Nkusi, which forms the southern boundary. The majority of the reserve is drained by streams that flow seasonally.

Ecological, climatic and edaphic conditions

Rocks: Schists,shales,quartzites and dolerites of the Karagwe-Ankole series, merging with those of Bunyoro series in the East. Soils are mostly deep tropical red earths, often lateratic with nodular concretions.

The climate is tropical with two rainfall peaks from April-May, and September to November. Annual mean temperature range; minimum: 16-18oC, maximum: 28-29oC.