THE OXFAM GROW REPORT
This document addresses a number of questions arising from the Oxfam Grow Report. It is intended to inform discussion and ensure accuracy. We expect to update and add to it, and would welcome any feedback from readers via info@newforests.net.

WHAT ALLEGATIONS WERE MADE AGAINST THE NEW FORESTS COMPANY IN OXFAM’S GROW REPORT?
There are, despite the noise generated online, almost no concrete allegations made against the Company.
There are numerous allegations made against the Government of Uganda and their agencies which so far as we know Oxfam has not yet taken up with the GOU.
These allegations concern the manner in which illegal encroachers were moved from the central forest reserves of Namwasa and Luwunga. Oxfam claims that the government failed to consult the encroachers and that violence was used during the evictions (Oxfam’s term) / vacations (the government term).
The New Forests Company has never evicted / vacated a single person from the land that is licensed to it by government. The management of all such land matters in Uganda is the sole responsibility of the democratically elected government.
The allegations made against the company seem to fall in to two categories:
• that we did not do enough to ensure that the vacations were voluntary and peaceful;
• and that we do not do enough to mitigate the consequences of the vacations.
In order to ensure the process was peaceful and nonviolent, NFC ensured our community development officers attended all consultation meetings and were in the communities during the relocation process. Additionally, NFC Management remained in close contact with District and NFA officials carrying out the vacations to ensure oversight of the process.

DID THE NEW FORESTS COMPANY DO ALL THAT COULD BE REASONBLY EXPECTED OF IT TO ENSURE THAT THE PROCESS WAS CONSULTATIVE AND PEACEFUL?
YES.
The process, despite Oxfam’s claims to the contrary, was possibly the most consultative in Ugandan history; and this was in large part due to The New Forests Company’s engagement in it. A similar process of consultations, community meetings and awareness raising took place at both Namwasa and Luwunga.
For over nine months, community meetings were held in the encroached areas, which included Local Counsel leaders, community members, District officials, NFA representatives and NFC community development officers. During those meetings, the topics covered included the laws of Uganda prohibiting encroachment on forest reserves, the alternative options for those with land outside plantation and the timeline for relocation.
“The eviction of the encroachers (illegal occupants) of the CFRs were processes for which NFA was solely responsible as mandated by the National Forestry and Tree Planting Act, 2003 and were coordinated by the District Security Committees under the chairmanship of the Resident District Commissioners of the respective Districts. NFC assisted with conveying information to communities, observing the vacation process and follow up to construct necessary social infrastructure in the locations and communities in which some of the encroachers relocated. NFC acted way beyond their mandate as a private investor by supporting and ensuring adequate stakeholder involvement and consultation; often prompting meetings between the various actors in order to ensure open and consistent dialogue.
–Letter from the NFA

WHAT DOES THE COMPANY DO THAT MITIGATES THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE EVICTIONS?
In order to mitigate any harmful consequences of the relocation, we have invested in renovations or new buildings for eleven schools, including two full secondary schools; and built three health centres to serve plantation labour and communities, many of which absorbed former encroachers.
NFC has also empowered and utilised the services of local labour contractors and other local entrepreneurs and fuelled the economies of neighbouring villages. To date, we have trained and assisted over 1,700 out growers to start their own plantations, resulting in over 1,000 hectares planted; and since the beginning of 2011, we have facilitated 36 master bee keepers to establish bee hives in the interest of future honey extraction and sale into the Ugandan honey market. We have established and trained HIV & AIDS peer educators groups on all plantations and hosted health fairs, as well as awareness and HIV testing events for labour and community members.
NFC agrees with and has tried to adhere to International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 5 (pdf), pertaining to respect for land rights, consultation with affected communities and compensation to those who lose access to land. This requires compensation to be paid. NFC offered and was prepared to pay compensation to former encroachers, but was prohibited from doing so by Government, whose responsibility it is; therefore, all we could do is to ensure that through our community development programmes, those evictees who remained in our communities had access to healthcare, education and livelihoods opportunities.
Indeed we know of numerous former settlers who are the direct beneficiaries of the out growers and apiculture programmes and jobs provided by the company. We haven’t singled out former encroachers to receive benefits; rather we seek to provide universal benefit to plantation neighbours through cross cutting programmes.
“NFC offered to provide compensation to the former encroachers via the NFA, to ensure the relocation was expedited to minimize hardships but also to ensure relationships between the former encroachers and the company remained positive and constructive, since NFC’s large labour needs on plantations had been fulfilled by some of the encroachers. NFC was also interested in offering jobs and business opportunities to all the communities neighbouring the CFRs. This offer was denied by government because the policy is to process all land claims and provide for land or monetary compensation through the government Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and not through private investors.”
–Letter from the NFA
“…it is not the policy of government to allow private investors to compensate encroachers on government land. NFC was prohibited from providing compensation and was asked to be patient as the NFA, the Prime Minister’s office and related arms of government processed the applications of encroachers to determine which people could demonstrate rights to compensation.”
–Tom Buringuriza, Acting Executive Director, Uganda Investment Authority
We have continued to advocate with District and National government organs for compensation owed to those who have demonstrated rights to the land and we have continued to host and protect those with a legal right to compensation until they are compensated.

IS THE NEW FORESTS COMPANY A LAND GRABBER?
While Oxfam does not make this allegation directly, by including a case study on our Uganda Plantations in their Grow report, they do so by implication.
The answer is: No – the New Forests Company is the legitimate licensee of constitutionally protected land in central forest reserves.
NFC understands that there are people grabbing large tracts of land in Africa for speculative trades or uses in the future. NFC does not own large chunks of land; NFC does not speculate on future land values; NFC has no right to sell, mortgage or alienate the land at Namwasa or Luwunga reserves. In Uganda NFC is not a freeholder or a leaseholder on this land. We are licensees of government with a license to use the land for 50 years. We have a right to use the land not to sell it, trade it, speculate on it or borrow against it.
We have a license to plant trees on land that has been gazetted (constitutionally protected) as Central Forest Reserves, similar to the protected status of a game park. This land has been in government hands since the 1930s and has always been clearly demarcated. For more than 80- years this land has been clearly known as government forest land – it has been patrolled by forest guards and officers, there have been constant education and sensitisation campaigns to inform anyone who had illegally settled on the land.
People who have illegally moved onto the reserve have always known their position was temporary and that they would need to relocate. Many hoped for compensation. The land on which NFC operates is owned by the Republic of Uganda and managed by the National Forestry Authority, on behalf of the people of Uganda. Across all NFC operations, all licenses and leases have been issued legally and are in accordance with National policy.
NFC is not speculating on the land or the land value. NFC will not in the future trade the land or gain value from land appreciation. The company is investing in a long term sustainable business. To date, we planted more than 16,000,000 trees. We have painstakingly developed the land putting one foot in front of the other. We have yet to make a profit and do not expect to do so for several more years.
We are not profiteers or speculators but rather, tree farmers.

IS THE GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA A LAND GRABBER?
This might seem an absurd question but it does seem to be one posed by the logic of Oxfam’s position which seems to question whether the government has the right to move illegal encroachers from constitutionally reserved land.
Our comment, based on our knowledge of Ugandan law, the process the government engaged in and observations of its actions, is that even by Oxfam’s definition, the vacations were not land grabbing, as they respected people’s rights, were consultative, transparent, democratic and overseen by NFC.

HAS THE COMPANY IGNORED LEGAL CLAIMS AGAINST IT?
No.
The Company has never had a claim against it upheld. Indeed it had only ever had two claims made against it. One by a former minister for trespass which has been dismissed out of hand and one by some members of the community who, encouraged by their lawyers, applied for an injunction to stop the company vacating land. The injunction was granted and observed by the company which since it was not engaged in vacations or evictions had only theoretical and no practical consequences. The injunction subsequently lapsed and the case was abandoned because, we believe, it had no substance as we have never vacated people from land.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE MOVED FROM LAND LICENSED TO THE NEW FORESTS COMPANY?
Oxfam claims over 22 500. This is a WILD exaggeration. The only reliable source of information is the records of the NFA which shows that 2,700 people were affected by the Namwasa movement and 7,000 people by the Luwunga movements of which only a proportion were using land license to the company and only a proportion were living on the land.
This is still a large number of people. However the following facts need to be taken in to account:
• the majority of the people affected did not live on the land but used it for grazing and planting;
• a majority were illegal immigrants with no right to be in Uganda let alone on protected government land; and
• many had only started using the land quite recently.
Oxfam derive their numbers from three extremely debatable sources. Firstly from the number of plaintiffs attached to a claim made against the company which they then inflate by x 8. Do Oxfam know that each plaintiff is legitimate? How can a dormant claim that has no substance nor foundation in law be a reliable source? Secondly, they rely on a letter written by the Minister of Water & Environment, which is not specific about the status of the case or the location of the affected people. Does Oxfam know that when the letter was written, it applied to a district with 14 Central Forest Reserves and which had within it ex forests reserves, all of which were subject to land claims? Even if the minister’s number is correct, the proportion that might apply to land licensed to New Forests is tiny in the context of Oxfam’s number. Finally they use a census taken in Luwunga, which ironically was paid for by New Forests and which we therefore have intimate knowledge of and unfortunately know to be inaccurate and unreliable.
The picture that Oxfam has tried to paint relies heavily on the number of people they claim were affected. In that context it seems irresponsible that they should have ignored the government’s statistics and instead rely on questionable sources to arrive at an entirely inflated number.
Oxfam also fails to distinguish between people living on the land and people living outside the reserve and cultivating on the land during the day.

ARE THERE PEOPLE STILL LIVING ON NEW FORESTS PLANTATIONS?
Yes.
There are approximately 248 people living with us on Namwasa plantation who were found by government to have a legal right to be there. They are being accommodated and protected until the government can issue compensation to them.

IS FORESTRY A LEGITIMATE USE OF LAND IN UGANDA?
Forestry represents one of the most critical sectors of the Ugandan economy. As one of the fastest deforesting countries in the world, Uganda has both an environmental responsibility and an economic opportunity to satisfy its growing timber needs through the protection and proper management of remaining and new forest reserves.
Much of government land is game reserves or forest reserves, first established and demarcated in the 1930s and given special protection as gazetted land which at Independence became gazetted constitutional land.
The government believes it is vital to protect and utilise forest land for all the people of Uganda and that it must implement and execute the law and prevent the country falling into a state of anarchy where anyone can illegally squat on any land. In the case of forest reserves the government also seeks to protect these as part of Uganda’s increasingly losing battle to protect its environment and fragile natural resources.
The creation of an agro-forestry sector of the economy has helped to diversify Uganda’s economy; generate much needed timber products; save critical foreign exchange by import substitution; enlarge the tax base and contribute to economic growth. NFC’s timber products will include electricity transmission poles and construction timber. Presently, electricity transmission poles are imported from other countries in order to satisfy Uganda’s efforts toward rapid rural electrification. NFC is growing timber for local and regional use exclusively and not for international export.
Regarding New Forest’s carbon interests, it is critical to note that NFC has not generated any revenue whatsoever from carbon credits. The sale of carbon credits is not a central part of our business plan. The reason for growing trees in Uganda is to supply the local market with transmission poles and construction timber and not to generate carbon credits for sale to companies in the global north.

WHAT HAS THE ECOMONIC IMPACT OF NEW FORESTS BEEN IN UGANDA?
Through job creation, NFC has improved the lives of over 16,000 people. Through community development initiatives and livelihoods stimulation programmes, over 23,000 people have directly benefitted. Although there is inevitably overlap between these two groups, the number of people positively affected by NFC’s presence is almost certainly over 30,000. The economic impact of NFC is also seen at local trading centres, where small businesses have arisen to service the increased salaries of NFC staff & labour and otherwise absorb the increased capital in the local economy.
Interviews with local residents have revealed the positive impact of employment with NFC in both goods and services available in the local trading centres as well as increased household financial security and buying power, resulting in more interest from micro-finance lenders.
“The multiplier economic and developmental benefits NFC has brought to Uganda are significant and long lasting. They are an exemplary investor, with an impeccable community development track record, which we want to encourage in other private investors under the government policy of public, private partnerships (PPP).”
–Letter from the NFA
“If NFC left, it would take this area back in time. The encroachers would come back and the development that is going ahead would go backward. People would lose their jobs and then go home and sit.”
–Godfrey Sserubogo, NFC labour contractor, tree out grower and former encroacher on Namwasa CFR

IS THE NEW FORESTS COMPANY SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE?
In order to mitigate any harmful consequences of the relocation, we have invested in renovations or new buildings for eleven schools, including two full secondary schools; and built three health centres to serve plantation labour and communities, many of which absorbed former encroachers.
NFC has also empowered and utilised the services of local labour contractors and other local entrepreneurs and fuelled the economies of neighbouring villages. To date, we have trained and assisted over 1,700 out growers to start their own plantations, resulting in over 1,000 hectares planted; and since the beginning of 2011, we have facilitated 36 master bee keepers to establish bee hives in the interest of future honey extraction and sale into the Ugandan honey market. We have established and trained HIV & AIDS peer educators groups on all plantations and hosted health fairs, as well as awareness and HIV testing events for labour and community members.
Additionally, NFC respects the rights and health of its labour and neighbours through institutionalised access to healthcare, HIV policies and implementation of Forest Stewardship Counsel best practise principles.
“NFC has proven to be an exemplary investor with a high commitment to socially responsible investment and respect for their communities and they are highly praised by local District officials, both those that are elected and appointed by government.”
–Tom Buringuriza, Acting Executive Director, Uganda Investment Authority

WHY IS THE NEW FORESTS COMPANY INVESTIGATING THE OXFAM CLAIMS?
Because they are serious claims made by a reputable organisation and we are intent, as a company, on finding out whether we could do more to mitigate the consequences of the government vacations, and join government and indeed partner with Oxfam in doing so. Further, NFC has a vested interest in ensuring the fair and just treatment of its neighbours.

WHAT WILL THE NATURE OF THE COMPANY’S INVESTIGATION BE?
Though the investigation is being commissioned by the company it is going to great lengths to ensure that it is independent and credible. Firstly, it is engaged in wide ranging consultation to ensure that the Terms of Reference are appropriate. This consultation includes, but is not limited to, numerous gold standard social auditing companies, the IFC and Oxfam itself. Secondly we have decided to have a supervisory committee to oversee the process and guarantee its objectivity. We are listening to the suggestions of many parties, including Oxfam as to its appointees. Finally we will, subject to the approval of the supervisory committee, commission a social auditor to produce a report. The selection process will consult many parties and we have invited Oxfam to be amongst them. The auditors will report to the committee on a regular basis and the committee will authorize the final version of the report.
If Oxfam does not accept, despite all of the above, that the investigation is independent and credible then The New Forests Company invites Oxfam to undertake an investigation of its own, subject to the methodology described above. If Oxfam were to do so it would have New Forests’ full support and cooperation.

GOVERNMENT ISSUES

DOES THE GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA HAVE THE RIGHT TO MOVE ILLEGAL ENCROACHERS FROM ITS OWN LAND?
We believe the answer to this question is yes and we would like to know if Oxfam agrees with us. It is clearly against the law of Uganda to live, cultivate or otherwise engage in non-forestry related activities on a Central Forest Reserve, which has been gazetted for forestry. Further, the government of Uganda has both the right and the obligation to uphold and protect its laws for the protection and upliftment of its people.

WERE THOSE VACATED BY GOVERNMENT ILLEGAL ENCROACHERS?
Yes.
Since the land at both Namwasa and Luwunga is gazetted land for forestry and falls under the jurisdiction of the Forestry and Tree Planting Act. And since the activities of cultivation and permanent residence on plantation are prohibited to those outside the license issued by the government, the government has the right and the obligation to protect land, some of which make up the last of pristine forest areas left in Uganda.
“Under the laws of Uganda, the land NFC was [licensed] by government has a special status and is constitutionally protected and dedicated solely to forestry activities. Therefore, any other activities on these lands are illegal under our constitution.”
–Tom Buringuriza, Acting Executive Director, Uganda Investment Authority
According to the government, any person who moved onto the Central Forest Reserve after 1992 is considered an illegal encroacher, with no legitimate right to the land. The people on the land before 1992, despite the fact that they had been illegally encroaching and of which there were very few, (248, pre-1992) were issued amnesty and are eligible for compensation. Government stated it would not tolerate anyone who came onto the land thereafter.
It is clear from interviews with former encroachers and neighbours of the reserve that the majority of the people affected entered the reserve later than reported by Oxfam.
“I came in 1998 and there were no people cultivating, except in Kyatto [the village in which the 31 families with legal rights to compensation are being protected currently]. The rest came in 2000. Politicians brought them in for the votes.”
–Godfrey Sserubogo, NFC labour contractor, tree out grower and former encroacher on Namwasa CFR
As the company is operating on government land first demarcated in the 1930s – and is clearly operating within the demarcated boundaries of the reserve – then all and any so called land titles within the reserve must be fake and illegal. The only way land title could ever be issued in a government owned reserve would be if Uganda’s parliament passed an act de-gazetting the reserve. This has never happened; therefore, all title deeds inside the reserve are fake. Indeed, NFC has in the past uncovered syndicates of opportunistic people selling fake title deeds on forest reserves to unsuspecting villagers. This is a practise that is, unfortunately quite common in Uganda.

WERE THE VACATIONS CONSULTATIVE?
Yes.
Both Namwasa and Luwunga enjoyed a long process of consultation and communication between encroachers, their District officials, local leadership, NFA and NFC.
NFC facilitated a long and intentional process of consultation with encroachers before the NFA issued three months notice for relocations to occur. For three months after the relocation process, NFC invited former encroachers back onto the reserve to harvest any remaining crops, temporary structures and otherwise recover any property left behind.

WERE THE VACATIONS PEACEFUL?
To the best of our knowledge, yes. District officials, former encroachers and community members state that the vacations took place without any personal injury, reports of violence or reported damages.
No evidence of violence against encroachers during the relocation process has been reported to NFC or to local police. We have statements from NFC staff, local leadership and District officials, which underscore the nature of the relocation process as peaceful and voluntary.
Within the resources of a small company we went to great lengths to witness the vacation process which was found by our community development officers to be peaceful. These are respected members of the community with no incentive to misrepresent the actions of government officials; and yet, no violence was witnessed by us.
“To date, the Namwasa and Luwunga voluntary vacation processes have been the most peaceful and well managed encroachment experiences in the history of the NFA. There were no reported incidences of violence or injury to the encroachers, security personnel, government officials and NFC personnel. Government will use the Namwasa and Luwunga approaches to inform and improve current and future settlement of forest encroachments throughout the country.”
–Letter from the NFA
“If the company goes, it will destroy everything.”
–Godfrey Sserubogo, NFC labour contractor, tree out grower and former encroacher on Namwasa CFR