THE National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has warned residents of Otuke and Moroto counties in Lira district against cutting Shea trees and other indigenous species.
Francis Ogwal, the natural resource management specialist, warned that shea trees could become extinct if no action is taken to arrest and prosecute people involved in its destruction.
Ogwal said the locals were massively depleting and destroying Shea trees for charcoal burning, despite its high economic and health value.
He explained that Shea butter has a good market in the US and the trees should be conserved.
“People are careless, thinking that there is no law restraining them from cutting trees yet there is a tough penalty,” Ogwal told participants at a workshop for district leaders at Lira Hotel on Wednesday.
He stressed that any person who fails or refuses to comply with an environmental restoration order commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment not exceeding 12 months or a fine of between sh120,000 and sh12m or both.
Ogwal advised the local councils to report people who destroy the environment so that immediate action can be taken.
Joseph Ongol, the district environment officer, explained that 60 litres of oil can be got from a single Shea tree. The trees grow mainly in northern Uganda.
By Patrick Okino
