A Brief History Of Kawanga Forest
Kawanga Forest is linked to the modern history of the Buganda kingdom, an interlacustrine entity in Central Uganda. Like most of the islands, the natural vegetation in most of the islands at hilltops was dominated by grasslands. “Bweya” the central village means grassland. “Buligo” at the northern edge is a translation of a place to ease oneself, a convenience given the relative sparsely populated area inhabited by some wildlife. “Bumangi” the seat of the Catholic Church was a settler community. The Roman Catholic mission was first located in Kawanga Forest probably to take advantage of readily available water sources and access to the lake. In the early 1900s, a block of 1 ½ square miles or 900 hectares was allotted under the 1900 Buganda Agreement to Ham Mukasa, the Kyaggwe county Chief “Sekiboobo”. In establishing the survey boundaries, Ham Mukasa and the Catholic mission exchanged allocations, the mission ascended to Bumangi Hill and Ham Mukasa and his heirs took over the steep terrain of what was then mostly grassland. There is evidence of scattered human settlements inside the forest but these were mostly vacated at the onset of the sleeping sickness epidemic that ravaged the islands in thr 1920s-1930s prompting enmasse evacuation of the island. The population of the islands never recovered. By 1989, the population of the entire Ssese Islands was just 16,000 inhabitants dotted in settlements along the main road. Kawanga Forest sprung from the River Kawanga watershed and is dominated by Namagulu, a king of mahogany and Musizi along with two invasive species Settaala that forms the canopy and a variant of wild oranges.
Visitors to Kawanga Forest can also visit Mawaala Landing Site.
Mawaala landing site is a deep water bay on Ffunve island, the fifth largest island in the Ssese archipelago that is adjacent to Buggala island. A boat ride to Mawaala is about 45 minutes or less in a speedboat. Mawaala is famous for rich catchments of nile perch (empuuta) and silver fish (mukene) and is home to over 500 people. The owners of Kawanga Forest run a coffee estate on the island and hope to modernize the fishing industry on the island. Scenic views of several islands at the top of the island make a visit to Mawaala worthwhile. Boat rides to Mawaala are an ideal way to take in the blue waters of Lake Victoria.
