The Musamya river flowing through the Mabira rainforest

A photo taken on August 29, 2011 shows the Musamya river flowing through the Mabira rainforest, about 50 kms (30 miles) east of the capital Kampala. The forest is home to a vast array of rare plants and animal species with almost 200 kinds of butterflies alone and over 250 birds. But despite helping rescue the forest from illegal logging when he seized power in 1986, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni now says a recent sugar shortage that saw prices rise and shops rationing the sweetener justifies giving away a quarter of Mabira's 29,000 hectares (71,000 acres) to the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Ltd (SCOUL). Mabira is one of the few remaining scraps of rainforest in Uganda and was officially designated a protected forest reserve in 1932.