During Uganda's political troubles in the 1970s the country's few remaining natural forests suffered acutely from illegal human encroachment, poor management practices and poaching of endangered forest wildlife. While the Kibale Forest suffered from many problems, agricultural encroachment alone destroyed some 97 sq km, or 17 per cent, of the Reserve between 1971 and 1982. In 1983 the Government of Uganda initiated steps to halt the spread of encroachment and to reassert authority over its forest resources.