NFA Shops New Fleet of Cars, Motorbikes and Smart Technology to Manage Forest Reserves

The National Forestry Authority (NFA) Board Chairman, Eng. Dr Christopher Ebal, has commissioned a new fleet of vehicles, motorcycles and other equipment at NFA offices in Kampala.

They include; Five (5) motor vehicles and forty-two (42) Motorcycles, Ten (10) Laptops, fourteen (14) Global Positioning System equipment, one (1) Arial Manned Vehicle (Drone) and one Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) machine.

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Eng Christopher Ebal, NFA Board Chair (L) addressing the press in Kampala

While commissioning the fleet on Wednesday, Eng. Ebal said the new fleet of vehicles, motorcycles and other forest tools are to be used for sustainable management of central forest reserves. He said the investment is worth Shs1.7bn.

“The board is implementing a phased approach of replacing the old flee with new to enhance staff capacity to perform,” he stated.

He also thanked the government of Uganda and partners like the World Bank, USAID, UNDP and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development for contributing towards forest management.

He concluded by cautioning staff to handle them carefully and use them correctly.

Smart technology

In 2021, NFA promised to deploy smart technology to monitor forests courtesy of the Investing in forests and protected areas for climate-smart Development (IFPA-CD) project supported by World Bank commenced activities.

The project, which is running for a period of five years (2020-2026), aims at supporting the Government’s agenda of increasing forest cover through afforestation and reforestation and slowing down the loss and degradation of the nation’s forests.

Speaking at the same event, Tom Obong Okello, NFA Executive Director, assured the public that the vehicles, motorcycles and other tools will be utilized to improve the management of Central Forest Reserves and increase tree cover.

“The government has a target in the National Development Plan III to increase forest cover to 15% by 2025 and NFA is a key stakeholder contributing to this target,” Okello told journalists.

NFA ED Tom Okello (R) addressing the press

He said they are currently at about 13.4% and hope to hit the 15% target by 2025.

NFA is a government agency mandated to manage and develop central forest reserves in Uganda.