34 / 220
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
20
NEMA 2006
Land cover / Land use
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.
National Forestry Authority (NFA) 2008
Legend
CLASS
Decidous plantaions
Needle leaved
THF weel stocked
THF low stocked
Woodland
Bush
Grassland
Wetland
Subsistence
Large scale farmland
Built up area
Open water
Impediments
0
70
140 210 280 350
35
Kilometres
whe l t cked
ell stocked
Decidu l
t ti
Coniferous forest