 Deforestation and forest degradation impact the lives of 1.6 billion people worldwide whose livelihoods depend on forests. In Uganda, the Ministry of Water and Environment estimates that the country loses about 122,000 hectares of forests annually, mainly due to demand for firewood and charcoal. 8 out of 10 people in Uganda rely on wood biomass for heating, cooking and lighting. The school relies on firewood majorly. There are quite a number of challenges. Our lessons are interrupted because when children come to class, instead of going to direct to the classes to attend lessons, when the firewood is not there, we have to send students first of all to go and look for firewood. Firewood has also got scars. To safeguard Uganda's forests, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with support from the European Union and the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda, is implementing two high-impact projects to contribute to forest restoration, tree growing and better environment and incomes for communities that rely on forests. Through the Solar Production Grants Scheme, or SPGS, FAO and the European Union provided grants to tree farmers throughout the country to reduce their costs of planting and maintaining quality forest plantations. This project, its main objective is to support investment in commercial forestry and we have been working with about 400 farmers. We work also with communities. We work with institutions just to support and train in commercial tree planting. 80,000 hectares planted if we start from 2004, when the project started, but also supporting nursery operators and also broadening the nursery network so that people can have quality material. And this has been a great contribution to the industry. Second contribution is to carbon sequestration. This is a very strong contribution. I got about 18.7 million shillings from FAO SPGS grant and I have used it mainly in establishing the forest, maintaining it, weeding it and even pruning. And then treatment of termites and those are other pests and then paying the laborers. The biggest success is because there were constant trainings by SPGS and that is what actually helped me to keep on maintaining the forest. FAO also trains and works with tree nursery operators to apply good standards for producing tree seedlings. Certification of nurseries provides quality assurance to buyers and ensures availability of quality seedlings for growing sustainable forests. What I learnt from FAO is the procedures of tree seedling production. Another thing that I learnt from FAO is the plantation establishment, the general management of a plantation. A key component for successful forest restoration in semi-arid areas like Karamoja is research that informs investors and farmers on recommended tree types and forest practices. Together with the National Forest Tree Resources Research Institute, FAO initiated research on tree species with the potential to thrive in dry land areas and produce quality timber. From what we are seeing here, we just need to scale up. These trees have suffered drought and you can even see it with the local other trees they are drying but in this ones are also surviving. We are going to promote GC, Clonolecalyptus 550, then G-Aboria and Melia Uganda. As a scientist, I am very confident that we can have trees and even the forest in Karamoja here. One of the big achievements of our contribution to the forestry sector is making everybody aware that this is a profitable sector, which was not before. And again, to do this it requires many, many different elements but the final aim is that now we know that it's a profitable sector and it's commercial forestry so it's quite essential. We have the overall EU ambition which then is reflected in the way we work with the partner countries. I need to mention what we call the Green Deals which is the whole ambition of the European Union to considerably scale up its efforts in terms of bringing better people and the environment together in whatever we do. So this means that to promote as much as possible a sustainable access to finance. Low adoption of energy saving technologies increases the demand for fewer wood resulting in destruction of forests for wood biomass. We need to increase forest coverage by planting new forests, where forests have been cut but also we want to conserve the existing forests. When it comes to conserving the existing forests, it means that we have to give alternative sources of energy. Through the Climate Resilient Livelihood Opportunities for Women Economic Empowerment project, FAO is working with the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda to provide clean, safe and labour saving energy technologies to influence gender roles and help reverse the effects of climate change in West Nile and the central Kato corridor. This is done by turning agricultural residue and waste into clean energy. That thing saves time because I used to cook with the firewood. The firewood I was using, we were collecting it very far. The benefit I'm getting from it is the bioproducts down there. The benefit I'm getting from it is the bioproducts down there, the fertilizers. It is really working. I tried it under my bananas there. Even the nursery bed I'm preparing, I tried it. FAO will establish 200 flexi-biogas systems. Reducing dependency on wood biomass as a main source of energy in Uganda will help to reduce natural resource destruction and related social challenges, such as children skipping school. To collect firewood as well as gender-based violence as women and girls trek long distances to collect firewood. Sweden has been a development partner of Uganda for many years and under the current strategy we have decided that the climate change resilience and gender equality and also increasing women's economic empowerment should be a focus of our development cooperation with Uganda. So the people who benefit from this intervention no longer need to go and cut down as many trees to cook their food, but it also frees up time for many of the women who would normally go fetch that firewood. Meaning that they can engage in more productive activities.