We explore and compare quantities and patterns of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) in protected forest and neighboring land around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (a mountain protected area in Southwestern Uganda). We assessed paired sites of natural forest and major land uses (potato, tea and grazing lands) converted between 1973 and 2010. These pairings were replicated at three altitudinal zones. Plots (20m by 50m) were demarcated within each site. Five composite soil and core samples were obtained from 0 to 15cm (top-soil) and 15–30cm (sub-soil) at each plot.

In arid and semiarid regions that have deep soils, plant root systems can extract soil water to a depth of 20m or more. An accurate evaluation of soil water conditions in such regions is essential in order to improve the understanding of the role of soils as a water pool and to design scientifically based water management strategies. However, the vertical distribution of soil water and its storage in deeper layers are unclear due to the shortage of field data.

Increasing competition over the world's forest resources will likely aggravate conflict, though conflict should not be seen as bad per se. As the challenge is to develop institutions and practices capable of handling conflict constructively, various collaborative approaches involving disputing actors are evolving worldwide. In Sweden, most such approaches pertain to protected areas and few involve commercial forestry.