Catholic Church partner with Good Forests Foundation Uganda to plant 500,000 trees

The Vicar General of Kabale Catholic Diocese Msgr John Vianny Sunday has hailed the good work being done by Centenary Bank to help the community saying that every good thing comes from God.

Msgr Vianny Sunday made the remarks while officiating at the  launch of the Cente Green Program which is part of the Centenary Bank broader sustainability agenda to minimise carbon footprint.

The programme being funded by Centenary Bank is a partnership of the Uganda Episcopal Conference and Good Forests Foundation Uganda which is aiming at planting 500,000 high value trees in all Catholic Dioceses across  the country in the next 5 years.

He asked the Christians to embrace the program and asked the beneficiaries to look after the trees well because they are not about mitigations of climate change challenges but also a source of good nutrition.

The project is part of the Centenary Bank’s broader sustainability agenda aimed at minimising carbon footprint where the Catholic Church and Good Forests Foundation Uganda have joined together in tree planting and landscape restoration partnership that will support the establishment and management of the trees.

Good Forests Foundation Uganda will provide technical expertise, coordination, implementation, management and monitoring of the tree growth programme where the church has provided land and mobilised the christians to support the management of the woodlots. 

The participating Dioceses include Kasese, Fort Portal, Kiyinda-Mityana, Masaka, Mbarara, Kabale, Jinja, Tororo, Arua, Nebbi, Moroto and Kotido where approximately 213 Acres of land have been earmarked for planting and management of indigenous tree species.

“Good will provide technical guidance on site selection, species selection, planting, establishment, maintenance and monitoring which will ensure tree survival so that the partnership investment translate in long term restoration” Ronald Tumwijuke, a technical personnel from Good Forests Foundation Uganda said.

Earlier, the Centenary Bank Kihihi Branch Manager Nsiimenta Benon thanked the Kabale Catholic Diocese for choosing Nyamwegabira Parish as pioneer beneficiaries saying that as Centenary Bank they will ensure that the project is well implemented as a strategic Social Corporate Responsibility.

“The partnerships also demonstrates how private sector financing, faith based institutions and local technical organisations can work together to deliver woodlot restoration across the country” Nsiimenta said.

Good Forests Foundation Uganda brings extensive experience in community led reforestation, agroforestry and sustainable land management across Central, Eastern and Western Uganda where they have established 19 trees nurseries, worked with 6,518 farmers, planted more than 2.14 million trees and restored approximately 3,326 hectares of land.

The partnership is built around a simple but powerful model where the church provides land and mobilises masses to create awareness, Centenary Bank provides financial and institutional support while Good Forests Foundation Uganda provides technical expertise and manages implementation and monitoring.

This shared responsibility model is designed to ensure that every partner contributes what is best positioned to provide while working towards a common goal of growing healthy trees and restoring degraded landscapes and this is achieved when different resources and capabilities are brought together.

Centenary Bank is the leading commercial microfinance institution in Uganda serving over 3.4 million customers and it’s mission is to provide appropriate financial services, especially Microfinance to all people in a sustainable manner and in accordance with the law.

Good Forests Foundation Uganda is a locally registered Non Governmental Organisation working on reforestation, agroforestry, sustainable value chain and landscape restoration and the Uganda Episcopal Conference is an Assembly of Catholic Hierarchy in Uganda founded in 1960 and comprises all Catholic Bishops of Uganda working in Unity to ensure the fulfilment of the mission of the Church.

The launch event which took place at Nyamwegabira Catholic Parish in Kihihi Town Council was also attended by Nyamwegabira Catholic Parish Priest Fr Lucas Kizza, the Diocesan coordinator for Social Services Fr Davis Kainamura, Kanungu Centenary Bank Branch Manager Achiles Mujuni and Centenary Bank Regional Manager Gilbert Iragaba, among many others.