By eastafrican gazette
Uganda has made a slight improvement of wetland restoration, now standing at 9.3% of the lost wetlands and forest cover according to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
Barirega Akankwasah, the NEMA Executive Director said Uganda lost 71% of its wetland cover since 1900 and 87% since 1700.
Akankwasah highlighted the substantial decrease in wetland cover globally, with Europe at 56.3%, North America at 56%, Asia at 45.1%, Oceania at 44.3%, and Africa at 43%.
“The wetland cover reduced from 15.6% in 1994 to only 8.9% in 2019 and we are beginning to see a slight recovery with the latest assessment indicating that the intact wetland cover has slightly improved by 9.3%,” he said.
Akankwasah was addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre.
He emphasized the importance of every Uganda to follow a sustainable development trajectory in order to guarantee that both “our nation and the Earth” continue providing ecological and socio-economic benefits to current and future generations.
He made an exception for public infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, and railways, which will be maintained within the wetlands.
He said that is why the government has embarked on operations to evict all illegal settlers in all wetlands as part of the country wide efforts to restore the degraded wetlands.
NEMA recently removed trespassers from Lubigi, a large ecosystem that spans across Kampala and Wakiso districts.
Other evictions have been conducted evictions in various wetlands such as Lwera in Mpigi district, Lurindo in Rukungiri district, Akadot in Kumi district, Kanyabukanja wetland in Buhweju, Kole wetland in Kole district, and Rwizi Wetlands in Mbarara, Kitagata wetland in Bushenyi, Kanyabukanja wetland in Buhweju, Pece wetland in Gulu, Nakaiba in Masaka, Kyabwato and Rwengwe wetlands in Ntungamo.
He explained that Wetlands play a vital role in the hydrological cycle that influence rainfall formation through evaporation, moisture recycling, and temperature regulation.
“Wetlands absorb and store excess rainfall, reducing the severity of floods and protecting communities from flood damage. Wetlands are significant carbon sinks, storing carbon in their vegetation and
Soil,” he said.
Prior to evicting an individual from wetlands, a Restoration Order is given to them in accordance with Section 133 of the National Environment Act, 2019.
Encroaching on a wetland is considered a crime under Section 55 of the National Environment Act, 2019. This offense carries a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment or a fine of sh600 million, or both.
The Restoration Order provides an encroacher with a 21-day period to either restore or vacate the area, or to appeal to the Court.
Failure to comply within the given timeframe may result in the Government forcibly removing the encroacher from the wetland and restoring the area at the expense of the violator.
Akankwasah provided an explanation that the Lubigi operation and Restoration Orders were issued, with individuals being cautioned to vacate the premises starting from February to April 2016 in Nansana, 2018 in the Nabweru area, 2019 in Nabisasiro, August 2022 in Nansana, Sentema, Busega, and Nabisariso, in December 2023, and finally in April 2024 in Lubigi as a whole.
In 2012, evictions took place in Lubigi, leading to the successful removal of Bemba Musota (the witchdoctor) and a taxi park.
Satellite images show that most of the encroachments occurred between 2011 and 2015, with evictions and re-entry activities continuing up to the present day.
A total of 214 households have already been evicted, and an additional 101 households are scheduled for removal, resulting in a combined count of 315 Mapped and Served entities.
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