Half + Half 1000 Acre Community Forest Project similar to Analog Forestry (a system which seeks Analog ecosystem with architectural structures and ecological functions similar to original climax or sub climax vegetation), is an innovation based on small holder farmers initiatives to conserve and restore small forest patches ranging from ¼ Acre to 2 Acre per household / farmer or leaving a piece of land to regenerate naturally into a forest by its own.

1. Half + Half 1000 Acre Community Forest
I have identified an area in my community where I have lived for a long time with a lot of experience, this
community have suffered the consequences of climate change for quite a number of decades, therefore to
fulfil one of my objective to join MOOC, I have decided to come up with a project which is real in nature
from my community and can be taken up by any one for support, replication and up scaling by acting
now, acting together and acting differently so that we are able to transition to a low emission, climate
resilient development path and hold warming below 20
C. The project’s title is Half +Half 1000 Acre
Community Forest.
Mityana district is one of the areas in Uganda which used to depend entirely on forest resources and rain-
fed agriculture. But due to high population pressure and demand for agricultural land and forest products,
forests are severely depleted; rainfall patterns have become unpredictable making it hard for farmers to
decide when and what to plant. The most common aspect of climate change in Mityana is prolonged dry
seasons.
Half + Half 1000 Acre Community Forest Project similar to Analog Forestry (a system which seeks
Analog ecosystem with architectural structures and ecological functions similar to original climax or sub
climax vegetation), is an innovation based on small holder farmers initiatives to conserve and restore
small forest patches ranging from ¼ Acre to 2 Acre per household / farmer or leaving a piece of land to
regenerate naturally into a forest by its own. It is anticipated that through campaigns and sensitization,
these small forest patches or piece of land left to regenerate into forests can make 1000 Acre of forest
conserved in Mityana district in Uganda and other parts of the world.
This is not something government or any other agency can achieve even with law enforcement or other
measures,and is driven by the fact that it is no longer feasible to conserve large tracts of forest only in the
face of the rapidly growing human population and competing economic priorities especially in Africa
where land is becoming so scarce. This initiative lead to sustainable agriculture and food security,
reduced soil erosion, stable rainfall pattern, stable income and alternative use of forest and Climate
change adaptation and mitigation if replicated scaled up and out in other communities in Uganda, Africa
and other developing countries where smallholder farming is still dominant.
Objectives:
1. Farmers to come up with their initiative as small scale farmers to address forest degradation,
poverty, food insecurity and climate change through Half+Half 1000 Acre Community Forest
Project as their main objective.
2. Raising awareness of the public on the importance of forests and trees for being essential for
supplying people with food, fuel, shelter, income as well as combating climate change.
3. Challenge and inspire change in different communities, government, business and foresters to
take action to achieve a greener, healthier and prosperous life through forest restoration. without
leaving small holder farmers behind.
4. To Stimulate the national and international agencies such as the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Bank, Governments and other institutions
to accept Half + Half 1000 Acre Community Forest Project as a strategy for improving forestry
restoration, food security and combating climate change and poverty.

2. Conclusions and outlook of the project:
 According to the survey made and all information gathered, there are very few farmers who come
up with social or technical innovations which focus on forestry restoration, most of them come
up with a focus on agricultural local innovations.
 National and international, governments and non government organizations rarely support local
farmer’s innovation in forests and forestry, the majority support innovations from agriculture and
other sectors only.
 The big number of researchers rarely gives support to farmer- led research in forestry restoration.
 There is almost no funding from local to international level put aside to support local farmer‘s
innovations in forestry.
 Most research done by research institutions on forests and forestry restoration is initiated by
researchers themselves and government which means it is always top down whereas it would
always be the other way round because farmers and the community at the grass root are the
custodian of forests.
 Projects such as Half+Half 1000 Acre Project and other similar project initiated by famers need
great technical and financial support from research institutions,policy makers and government so
that their innovations can be synthesized and analysed for replication, upscaled to other
communities and taken as a strategy and approach to combat climate change.
 National government should come up with a policy which supports local initiatives from the grass
root.
 Government should look into land tenure & land security /land grabbing to make policies which
are friendlier to community forest management and ownership.
 Government should put in place a policy for building capacity for forestry officer to manage&
monitor community and personal forests however small they are.
 With the coming SDGs, more research is needed on how best farmers can embrace community
and personal forests for jobs, income and inclusive socio economic growth, food and nutrition
security under the changing climate.
 Research is needed on how community forests and tree planting can be harmonized with modern
technology, farming and food sovereignty hence strengthening people’s livelihood, food security
and climate change adaptation.
 Special attention is needed to carry out research on Half + Half 1000 Acre Forest Project.
End