Uganda walks fragile path as world marks Environment Day

As Uganda joined the rest of the World to mark the June 5 International Environment Day, exactly 50 years after the first celebration held in 1973 in Stockholm Sweden, environmentalists believe the state of environmental degradation is worse.

While Uganda has tried to score in the restoration of particular Wildlife that had become extinct, efforts to restore some of the most depleted natural resources including forests, and water catchment areas among other natural resources have remained slow.

Commemorated under the Global Theme “Only One Earth” and in Uganda “Our Earth, Conserve for life”, the Lake Victoria levels have continued to oscillate above the long term average 1, 134.37 meters above average sea level since 2013 while the wetland coverage reduced from 15.5 percent in 1994 to about 13 percent today. However, out of the remaining wetlands in Uganda, only 8.9 percent are still intact while 4.1 percent are degraded, Dr Barirega Akankwasa, the National Environment Management Authority Executive Director reveals.

“The climate is heating up too quickly for people and nature to adapt while pollution of land, air, and water is very high. We need to stop encroachment on the fragile ecosystem, avoid dumping waste responsively, and restore the degraded areas. Air quality in urban areas remains consistently above the World Health Organisation recommended guide. It is over 10 times the WHO 2021 guidelines,” he said.

While a section of the stakeholders is quick to pile blame on particular government departments for failing to enforce the laws including eviction of the encroachers on gazetted wetlands and forests, conservation of the natural resource should be the responsibility of every individual, according to Mr Alfred Okot Okidi, the permanent secretary Ministry of Water and Environment.

“The Luweero District leaders say many wetlands and forests are under encroachment, but local governments can pass ordinances to ensure that the natural resource is not degraded in any form. We should not wait for a particular government department to act single-handedly. The government's position is very clear on the protection of the environment. Nema has since stopped issuing permits at the different wetland areas. The districts are also advised to stop issuing out the titles in wetlands and forests,” he said.

Mr Okidi said his ministry has undertaken several initiatives including the distribution of free tree seedlings for planting.

“We recently patterned with the Church where all Church of Uganda founded schools are undertaking a mandatory tree planting campaign on the school land. The trees are given out to every individual willing to plant, the Ministry of Water and Environment officials revealed.

Meanwhile, the State Minister for Water, Ms Aisha Ssekindi says Uganda’s rapidly increasing population continues to exert pressure on the available natural resources.

“This partly explains the measures instituted by the government to ensure that the ecosystem is jealously guarded against destruction. The 10-year Action Plan by the government for the restoration of the environment for the year 2021-2031 targets the boosting of the environment. We should move away from the blame game by acting as a team for the restoration of our environment,” she said.

In Luweero District, the authorities claim that about 7,000 residents are currently encroaching on the River Lwajali water catchment area and have degraded the area. The district Chairperson Mr Erasto Kibirango says that the law enforcers in Luweero are too few to handle the eviction process.

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