Government plans to plant trees worth 430 billion shillings in the next four years, to restore dwindling forest cover.
The plan is part of government's strategy to establish a recognized carbon sink that would enable it to earn credits on mechanisms set up to help countries meet their CO2 emissions targets.
Like many African countries, Uganda suffers from rampant deforestation that dries up rivers, triggers soil erosion and threatens wildlife.
Moses Watasa, spokesman of the National Forest Authority told Reuters News agency that the massive tree planting exercise is seen as key in the battle against climate change. he said Several local and international timber companies would be involved, but declined to name any of the companies.
World leaders are meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali this week to strike a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. Protecting forest is high on the agenda.
Watasa said Ugandan officials at the talks would push for a deal recognizing the positive impact of reforestation.
The government has come under fire from environmental campaigners and donors this year for plans, strongly supported by President Yoweri Museveni, to give away rainforests.
In May, the government rejected two unpopular proposals to turn over rainforest reserves to sugar and palm oil planters after violent protests in which at least three people were killed.
But the Environment Ministry says some 55,000 hectares (136,000 acres) of forest cover disappears in Uganda every year because of poverty and population pressure. Many poor Ugandans in rural areas cut trees for firewood or timber.
Scientists say Uganda's robust terrain can regenerate forests quickly, owing to a combination of its favorably wet climate and fertile soils beefed up by occasional splashes of ash from volcanoes, past and present.
