Kyegegwa, Centenary Bank partner in campaign against massive deforestation
Eric Mubiru, branch manager, Centenary Bank Mubende, plants a tree in Kyegegwa District during the launch of the Centenary Bank and Kyegegwa District environment conservation campaign. PHOTO BY FRED MUZAALE
What you need to know:
Faced with massive deforestation, an initiative by Kyegegwa harnesses the corporate social responsibility to support its environment campaign.
Kyegegwa District, in partnership with Centenary Bank, has launched a community tree planting campaign aimed at conserving the environment to control the effects of deforestation in the district.
The campaign was launched on October 20, by Flavia Kabahenda Rwabuhoro, the Kyegegwa Woman MP, Mohammed Sadik Mayanja, Special Presidential Assistant, and Eric Mubiru, manager, Centenary Bank Mubende Branch at the Kyegegwa Town Council grounds.
Conducive
At least 1,000 seedlings were planted by the leaders on the first day of the campaign while over 40,000 seedlings are to be distributed over the duration of the campaign. Centenary Bank has contributed Shs4m to the activity.
In his remarks, Mayanja, commended the bank for partnering with Kyegegwa local government authorities to make the district a conducive place to live in and do business. “With the support we have received today, we hope to restore the forest cover of Kyegegwa as was before many trees were cut down by those who are into the charcoal and timber business,” he said.
Nourish
On his part, Mubiru noted that living in a clean environment is a human right and should come naturally to all Ugandans. “Conservation of our environment by planting trees brings a number of benefits to our people including; lowering temperatures, reducing soil erosion during rainy seasons and providing shades for our people to rest during sunny days and filtering pollutants and dust from our air,” he said.
Planting trees, Mubiru added, makes a great contribution to increasing the amount of rainfall we receive.
“Rainfall is very important to Uganda, because agriculture is our mainstay. Therefore with better environment conservation through initiatives like these, we are able to guarantee that our farmers will receive the much desired rain to grow their crops and nourish their animals from which they earn a livelihood,” he noted.
Achieve dream
The district chairman, Norman Birungi, said that this was the second phase of the district’s greening campaign having done phase one in 2012.
“From phase one, deforestation has greatly decreased in the district where by more people are now eager to plant trees. In the second phase launched today, we have decided to partner with the private sector to help us achieve our dream of a green district faster,” he said.
“We shall be planting nursery beds, distributing seedlings to the community and sensitising them on benefits of a green environment.
Promoting and conserving a clean and conducive environment is one of the key community activities that the bank undertakes under its corporate social responsibility programme. It has supported similar initiatives like Kayunga District’s greening drive in 2012.
Mubiru, therefore, urged the community in Kyegegwa to support the campaign by planting at least one tree every year. The launch of this year’s greening campaign is one of the activities that Kyegegwa held to mark Uganda’s 52nd Independence anniversary.
SOME FIGURES
Research has proven that one tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, equaling 11,000 miles of car emissions. One acre of trees has the ability to remove 13 tonnes of particles and gases from our environment annually.
