The visit brought together FSC Eastern Africa, FSC Germany, the Uganda Timber Growers Association (UTGA), and Hammerbacher GmbH. It formed part of a broader partnership to support responsible forest management and capture and communicate its environmental and social outcomes.
A restoration landscape under FSC certification West Bugwe Central Forest Reserve is one of the restoration landscapes under the UTGA group certification scheme. In 2020, UTGA partnered with the National Forestry Authority (NFA) to restore and protect 1,000 hectares of degraded areas within the reserve.
The site is now part of the UTGA FSC-certified group scheme, supporting landscape restoration and community-based forest management. UTGA works with smallholder tree growers across Uganda, supporting them in achieving FSC certification and improving access to responsibly sourced timber markets.
This model enables communities to participate in forest management activities while creating opportunities for income generation and market access. Since becoming part of the FSC system, the reserve has trained over 150 community members and supported restoration activities across more than 1,000 hectares of degraded forest landscape.
These activities include the planting of more than 200,000 indigenous trees and ongoing work to support forest recovery, biodiversity conservation, and community engagement around the reserve.
Seeing the work on the ground
On 19 and 20 March, FSC Eastern Africa, led by Annah Agasha, Deputy Regional Director, Africa, together with UTGA, hosted a delegation from Hammerbacher GmbH and FSC Germany at the West Bugwe Central Forest Reserve. The delegation included Bernhard and Doris Hammerbacher, Ursula Hammerbacher, Ute Weidinger, Bernd Sandtner, and Julia Koeberl.
Over two days, they visited restoration sites, observed an FSC audit in progress, and held discussions with community members involved in forest management activities. The visit provided a practical view of how FSC standards are applied in the field and how restoration activities are linked to community participation, certified forest management, and longer-term market opportunities.
Denis Kavuma of UTGA noted:
“Partnerships like this are important because they allow communities to see direct value from restoration and responsible forest management. Through FSC certification, smallholder growers are gaining access to better opportunities while contributing to the protection and recovery of important forest landscapes.”
Linking restoration, communities, and markets
Restoration work in West Bugwe includes nursery development, tree planting, and forest management activities. These activities are contributing to improved ground cover, soil stability, and water retention, while native species are being reintroduced as part of the restoration process.
For local communities, the work also creates opportunities to participate in forest-based activities and generate income through seedling production, planting, and site maintenance. For smallholder farmers, participation in the UTGA group certification scheme can support access to certified markets and longer-term economic opportunities from responsibly managed forests.
Reflecting on the visit, Doris Hammerbacher of Hammerbacher GmbH shared:
“Seeing the project on the ground changes everything. It is one thing to support restoration from a distance, but being here and meeting the communities makes the impact real. You understand where the value is created.”
Verified ecosystem services in practice
West Bugwe is the first FSC Ecosystem Services project sponsored in Eastern Africa. Through Hammerbacher GmbH’s sponsorship, the site shows how companies can support verified forest impacts while connecting their sustainability commitments to activities taking place in certified forest landscapes.
In June 2023, using the FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure, the West Bugwe Central Forest Reserve gained an FSC Ecosystem Services claim, verified under UTGA, for biodiversity conservation. Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to people, including biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, air quality, cultural services, carbon storage, and soil conservation.
The FSC Ecosystem Services Procedure provides a voluntary framework for FSC-certified forest managers to demonstrate, verify, and communicate positive impacts on ecosystem services. Once an independent audit confirms a positive impact, a forest manager can make a verified claim for a specific ecosystem service.
For sponsors such as Hammerbacher GmbH, the procedure provides a clear and verifiable link between financial support and forest outcomes on the ground. It also helps connect responsible forest management with sustainability and climate finance opportunities, while maintaining the transparency and credibility provided by FSC standards.
Julia Koeberl of FSC Germany added:
“This partnership shows how FSC can connect markets in Europe with real, measurable impact in Africa. It demonstrates the strength of the system when all parts of the value chain are working together.”
Watch the West Bugwe restoration story here
Partnership beyond reports
One memorable moment during the visit came during a tree planting session, when Ute Weidinger planted her first indigenous seedling at the restoration site. The activity connected the delegation directly with the landscape and the communities involved in restoration work.
As Annah Agasha noted during the visit:
“Partnerships like this show that real impact happens when people step into the landscape, engage with communities, and see firsthand the difference sustainable forestry is making.”
West Bugwe continues to show how long-term, partnership-driven restoration can support forest recovery, community livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and verified ecosystem services.
For FSC Eastern Africa, the visit reinforced an important point: responsible forest management is not only about standards and certification. It is also about ensuring that these standards support practical outcomes for forests, people, and future generations.