Where Uganda's Plantations Are: Regional Guide

Where are most plantations in Uganda?

No official map splits plantations by district and by species. The best public statements come from the Uganda Timber Growers Association (UTGA), the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and the 2023 public summary of one large estate owner. Put together, they show five belts. The table lists them with the sourced facts only; anything we could not confirm is left out.

Smaller NFA groups also exist at Mwenge (1,711 ha, Kyenjojo) and Lendu (2,296 ha, Zombo). The NFA page lists them as plantation groups, and says that NFA was set up under the National Forestry and Tree Planting Act and launched on 26 April 2004.

What is in the Albertine belt: Hoima, Masindi, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi?

UTGA's chairman told the Daily Monitor that the Albertine cluster, covering Hoima, Masindi, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi, has the largest plantation acreage, above 25,000 hectares, and that pine takes 15 to 18 years to mature. We have not seen a published breakdown of that figure by species or owner, so it is a claim by an industry body, not a survey.

Two named sites are in this belt. Kikonda Central Forest Reserve in Kyankwanzi District holds 10,298 hectares that are FSC certified, of which 8,522 hectares are plantation and 1,776.8 hectares natural forest, with pine (Pinus caribaea), Eucalyptus grandis and teak, according to FSC Africa. It is managed under a concession by Global Woods AG; the article does not say who owns the land. Luwunga, in Kiboga and Kyankwanzi, is 8,600 hectares according to The New Forests Company's 2023 public summary, which calls Luwunga and Namwasa Central Forest Reserves, "land gazetted for forestry".

ForestSource lists Global Woods as a sawmill in Hoima, established 1990. It does not say what the mill buys. InfoNile reports that forest cover in Hoima grew from 2,396 hectares to 2,883 hectares; that is forest cover, not plantation area.

What is in the Mubende and Kassanda belt?

UTGA puts the Mubende cluster second after the Albertine, without giving a figure. Namwasa, in Kassanda District, is 8,022 hectares of mainly eucalyptus and pine grown for poles and sawlogs, and is a Central Forest Reserve under the same 2023 summary. UTGA's chairman links Namwasa to Mubende, so older sources may name Mubende instead of Kassanda.

The belt is best known for veneer. InfoNile reports that Mubende had up to eight sawmills, seven of them Chinese-owned, until June 2023, plus similar operations in Mityana, Kibale and Kyegegwa. The export directive of that month stopped veneer exports, and the report says a mature tree then sold for as little as UGX 20,000. See Uganda Timber Export Ban and Pine Prices. Any stand you consider here should be priced as if the old veneer buyers are gone.

What about Mityana, Nakaseke and Nakasongola?

The NFA lists a Katuugo plantation group of 2,550 hectares in Nakasongola, made up of the Katuugo and Kasagala plantations. The Nile Plywoods pole treatment plant at Kakonge in Nakasongola is stated by its parent group to treat 110,000 creosote poles and 55,000 CCA poles a year. This is a company claim, not an audited figure. For Mityana, InfoNile quotes tree cover rising from 3,264 hectares in 2017 to 8,000 in 2019 and then falling to 5,400 in 2021, which shows how quickly planted area can change as trees are harvested.

We found no sourced plantation facts for Nakaseke, so we do not describe it here. Our own farmland listings are in these districts (see below), and as the listings come with sizes and species the page will be updated.

What is in Busoga?

The NFA South Busoga group is 2,499 hectares in Mayuge. UTGA's chairman names Bukaleba Central Forest Reserve in Mayuge and Kirinya in Bugiri among large commercial establishments. Kirinya is 3,522 hectares of mainly eucalyptus and pine on private land, according to the 2023 New Forests Company summary. InfoNile quotes Busoga Forestry Company, which temporarily closed its sawmill and was running at 40 percent capacity in 2024, and says plywood, wood chips, sawdust and pallets could still be exported. Nile Plywoods, with a Jinja address on its group page, lists treated electrical transmission poles among its products. These are neutral facts about third parties, not an assessment of any estate or company.

What is in the south-west highlands?

The NFA Bugamba group is 11,322 hectares in the Mbarara, Isingiro and Ntungamo districts, covering the Rwemitongore, Kyahi, Bugamba and Rwoho plantations. The Mafuga group is 3,432 hectares in Kabale, Kanungu and Kisoro and includes Kabale, Mafuga, Kirima, Muko and Echuya. The NFA page does not define "to date" for these totals and does not give species by altitude, and we found no sourced species-by-altitude table, so we do not claim which species grows at which height. Ask the NFA or a local forestry officer which species does well on a particular slope.

For species and sale details, see Pine Trees for Sale in Uganda, Eucalyptus Trees for Sale in Uganda and Cypress, Grevillea, Teak and Musizi for Sale.

Which planted forest area figure should I trust?

The totals do not agree because they measure different things. A land-cover map counts trees seen from the sky in a given year; a ministry or association may count land established or licensed. Do not add them together.

FAO's Forest Resources Assessment 2020 also reports a planted forest figure for Uganda, but we could not verify it in this review, so we do not state the number. For buying, the useful point is that none of these totals tells you what is for sale or who owns it. A district-level table of tradable stands will come from our own listings.

What should a buyer check on the site and the title?

Because a Land & Property forest listing sells the trees only, with land not included and the harvesting deadline negotiable with the seller, three site facts matter more than the belt name. First, the road: can a loaded truck reach the stand in the wet season, and who maintains the access? Second, the right of entry: ask the landowner to confirm in writing that the buyer may enter and haul until the deadline. Third, the tenure: the land may be private, licensed or inside a reserve, and as the NFA FAQ says, land allocated for tree planting cannot be transferred, though a licence holder may cancel and pass the trees to a party that accepts the same conditions.

Stands near Kampala are closer to the city's pole and firewood markets. A 2025 Makerere thesis surveyed eucalyptus pole and firewood markets at Bwaise, Nateete and Nsangi in Wakiso and Kampala, and found selling poles more profitable than firewood in its sample. We found no sourced freight data, so we make no claim about price or transport savings. Read How to Sell Standing Trees in Uganda if you are the seller.

What do our listings show?

Our snapshot of 3 November 2026 has 93 published listings and no forest listings yet. It does have farmland in districts that overlap with these belts: Nakaseke 8, Nakasongola 6, Hoima 4, Mityana 3, Kassanda 3, Kiboga 2, Mubende 2 and Kyankwanzi 2 (Land & Property listings, Nov 2026). That is farmland, not planted trees, so it does not show where plantations are. Owners and agents with stands in these belts can list forests as an agent. Buyers can browse forest and tree listings, start with Forest Trees for Sale in Uganda, and book an escorted forest visit before paying.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Forest Trees for Sale in Uganda: Standing Pine and Eucalyptus
• Pine Trees for Sale in Uganda: Plantations and Sawlogs
• Eucalyptus Trees for Sale in Uganda: Buyer's Guide
• Cypress, Grevillea, Teak and Musizi for Sale
• How to Sell Standing Trees in Uganda: Seller's Guide
• Listing Forests as an Agent: Data Buyers Need