BLI students walking inside the thick Lazarus Forest. Photos, Illustration by the Arnest Tumwesige
By Tumwesige Arnest
LUWERO: At only 21 years old, Tusiime Mary proudly counts every tree she has planted since joining Bethany Land Institute (BLI) at the beginning of her first semester this year. So far, she has planted 21 trees.
“I have learnt grafting trees, identifying different species and how they are planted,” she says with excitement.
Tree planting at the institute is not just an environmental activity but part of the curriculum under regenerative agroforestry aimed at restoring the degraded Lazarus Forest, which had suffered years of encroachment before the establishment of the institute.
Tusiime, a Senior Six leaver who scored 14 points in Physics, Economics and Mathematics, is among the 29 trainees enrolled at the institute for the 2026 academic year under a two-year integrated ecological training programme. She hopes to later join university but says the skills she is acquiring will help her become self-employed.
“I want to create my own job using the knowledge I have acquired here,” she says.
Another learner, Nakigudde Kevin Mary, aged 14, from Kiwoko Village in Kikamulo Sub-county, Nakaseke District, is undertaking a three-year practical training programme.
The Primary Seven leaver scored 15 aggregates in last year’s examinations. Together with other learners who ended their education at Primary Seven and below, she spends nearly 60 percent of her training time in the field.
For Ojok Nasuru Ibra, a 20-year-old from Lira City, joining the institute marked a turning point after years of working as a motorcycle mechanic following his dropout in Primary Six.
Ojok, who has repaired motorcycles for the past six years, now studies under a work-and-study arrangement where he helps at the institute as a way of offsetting tuition costs. Like Nakigudde, much of his learning takes place through practical fieldwork.
Restoring Lazarus Forest
The institute located on 418 acres at Nandere Hill in Nyimbwa Sub-county, Luwero District, Lazarus Forest formerly known as Nandere Forest occupies more than 300 acres, with about 180 acres still covered by natural forest.
Before the establishment of the institute in 2015, approximately 120 acres had been severely encroached upon by surrounding communities. Today, the degraded sections are undergoing reforestation while other parts are being allowed to regenerate naturally.
So far, the institute has planted more than 290,000 trees, with an annual target of 33,333 trees as part of a long-term vision to plant one million trees over 30 years under its 2020 – 2050 strategic plan.
The restoration effort is supported by organizations including Tree Adoption Uganda, Rotary Club of Sonde, and banks such as Stanbic Bank Uganda, DFCU Bank, and Centenary Bank.
As restoration progresses, biodiversity within the forest is steadily recovering.
More than 70 tree species, including mahogany and musizi, have been recorded. The forest is also home to four types of primates, including black-and-white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabeys.
Other wildlife species include duiker antelopes, squirrels, mongooses, and over 10 snake species such as the African rock python and Gaboon viper. More than 200 bird species have also been identified within the ecosystem.
“We find this forest as a great resource for BLI whereby we are doing education, and students come from within Uganda and outside for research, with some coming from the United States every year for internship,” says Rukundo Calvin, the tourism officer at the institute.
According to Rukundo, the institute also promotes eco-tourism activities including nature walks, bird watching, and picnics within the forest.
A sneak peek into the forest
If anyone has ever entered, for instance, Budongo Forest, one would absolutely get excited to see towering indigenous trees swaying gently above the narrow footpaths cutting through, similar to those in Lazarus Forest.
The forest today stands not only as a sanctuary for wildlife but also as a living classroom where ecological restoration and human transformation unfold side by side.
The thick green canopy filters rays of sunlight onto the moist forest floor below. The air is cool and filled with a mixture of birdsong, rustling leaves, and distant chatter from troops of monkeys swinging through the branches.
Along the regenerated sections of the forest, young mahogany, musizi, and other indigenous tree species stand carefully nurtured besides naturally recovering vegetation, painting a picture of a landscape slowly reclaiming its lost glory after years of degradation and human encroachment.
Community Outreach to Reduce Encroachment
Besides deploying armed personnel to conduct routine forest patrols, the institute has also rolled out a community outreach strategy intended to help nearby residents benefit from similar ecological programmes.
Now in its second year, the “Integral Ecology Model Parish” initiative focuses on Nyimbwa and Makulubita sub-counties and is expected to run for five years.
“We want to concentrate in these two sub-counties to identify areas that can help these people participate in ecosystem restoration, produce safe food and improve their livelihoods in terms of income,” says Kule Sylvester, the Programme Director at the institute.
The programme adopts a holistic approach that addresses issues such as gender-based violence, health, education, environmental conservation, and household income generation.
Institute leaders believe such interventions will encourage surrounding communities to appreciate and actively participate in nature conservation.
Embedding Financial Support for Learners
To support vulnerable and economically disadvantaged students, the institute has also established a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO).
Under the arrangement, each student is assigned a plot of land and proceeds from harvested produce are saved in the SACCO. The initiative is intended to help learners build financial discipline and capital for future projects.
The SACCO already holds about UGX 30 million obtained through donations. Students will later access revolving loans after presenting viable business project proposals following their internship training.
Apart from forest restoration, the institute offers practical training in organic farming and value addition. Learners are already producing products such as pineapple and hibiscus wine, herbal medicine, and organic pesticides.
Kintu Suzan, the Deputy Administrator at the institute, says the aim is to change the mindset of young people from seeking employment to becoming job creators.
“We are training them to remove the mentality of completing studies and looking for jobs. They should go out and practice what they have learnt,” she says.
Plans are also underway for the institute to formally register with the Ministry of Education and Sports using a curriculum focused on integral ecology for rural transformation.
Since its establishment, the institute has enrolled 88 trainees across six cohorts, including 28 learners who ended their education at Primary Seven level and below.
Uganda on a global lenses of biodiversity conservation
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) suggests that the main threat to biodiversity conservation in Uganda is the increasing human population and the consequent demand for land. Competing land-use options for agriculture, timber harvesting, mining, oil and gas exploration mean that biodiversity is oven overlooked.
Equally, WCS which is a non-governmental, science-based conservation organization that works in over 50 countries around the world and founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society places Uganda as one of the richest countries in Africa for biodiversity conservation, ranking second richest for mammals (and 13th in the World), second for birds, and seventh for higher plants.
This is because several major Biomes meet here, each with their associated fauna and flora. Uganda is also home to several species whose global range is mostly confined to Uganda, such as mountain gorillas, Rothschild giraffe, Uganda mangabey, and Nahan’s francolin.
Brief Background to BLI
BLI was established in 2015 as a community-based ecological and vocational training institution focused on restoring degraded ecosystems while empowering rural youth with practical livelihood skills.
The initiative was founded through a partnership involving Dr. Emmanuel Katongole, Dr. Cornelius Ssempala, Dr. Zachary Rweza who are priests and the Kasana-Luwero Catholic Diocese.
The founders envisioned creating a model institution that combines ecological restoration, spiritual renewal, sustainable agriculture, vocational skilling, and community transformation.
Pictorials on the farm institutes activities
