Uganda Seed Project

Ugandan South African Eucalyptus seedlings project

The Catholic Church parish of St. Boniface in Doko Uganda will be able to extract timber; get poles for building; firewood for cooking and environmental conservation as advocated by Pope Francis in his encyclical “Laudato si”.  As of June, 2019, the community had already planted 1,650 South African eucalyptus seedlings, 170 of them around the parish compound and 1,480 in one acre of the parish land. Each seedling costs 700 Shillings ( 20 cents US). The parish has 26 acres of very fertile land which is not being utilized.  Fr. Thomas Aquinas has discussed the project with the Parish Council and we have agreed to plant trees on 7 acres for the good of the parish and future sustenance of the priests who will work in this parish. They have so far completed planting trees on one acre and now left with 6 acres.  In each acre, we need 1,480 seedlings costing 1,036,000/ (i.e. 6 acres will require 8,880 seedlings costing 6,216,000 ($1650 USD))  The devotees of Legion of Mary, the youth and the seminarians are very excited about this program and are available to help in the planting of the seedlings.

The justification for planting the new variety of the South African Hybrid eucalyptus is that it is drought and pest resistant and fast maturing and with the fertile soils and substantial rainfall it will even mature in less than five years. Besides, once the trees are harvested, they produce more shoots and so the project will be ongoing.

 

(Fr. Thomas Aquinas Outa)

 

 

 

                          Fr. Thomas Aquinas planting seedlings with a seminarian