The Uganda Atlas

Land cover / Land use

Legend CLASS

Decidous plantaions Needle leaved THF weel stocked THF low stocked Woodland Bush Grassland Wetland Subsistence Large scale farmland whe l t cked ell stocked Decidu l t ti Coniferous forest

NEMA 2006

Built up area Open water Impediments

Kilometres

0

35

70

140 210 280 350

National Forestry Authority (NFA) 2008

Figure 9: Uganda’s Land Cover Classification

L and constitutes the main resource capital that is available to the people of Uganda. Specifically, land supports agriculture on which the country depends as an engine for economic growth and as a basis for rural livelihoods. The total area of Uganda is estimated at about 241,551 km 2 , consisting of subsistence and commercial farmland, grassland, woodland, water bodies, bushlands, tropical high forest (THF)–normal and degraded, and others such as plantations and built-up

areas. Land is therefore central to people’s livelihoods and development, since it is the basis for all activities in the country. Land in Uganda is distributed between families, gender, tribes, clans and economic classes, as well as between private and public ownership. This mosaic has affected the distribution of land and associated resources as well as their management practices since it is the most important factor of production in the country today.

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