Governments seem to read from the same script and they have the same motto: “If it is not broken, do not fix it.”  

Sources also say the trouble is “Fixing things that are not broken and not fixing things that are broken.” 

Uganda’s broken ecological systems will not suffer a similar fate. This is because Government has put in place a new 10-year plan to restore the degraded environment. 

According to Dr. Barirega Akankwasah, the executive director of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the new 10-year environment restoration plan is going to be rolled out to restore degraded environment.  

Akankwasah cited degraded forests, wetlands, river banks and lake shores as some of the key priority areas of intervention.

He also said that the plan addresses bare hills and waste including poor plastic waste disposal which have plagued the environment over the years.   

Director of water resources at the Ministry of Water and Environment, Dr. Florence Grace Adong addresses the press on the state of the environment ahead of World Environment Day. This was at the Uganda Media Center on May 24, 2022.

“The main focus is restoration of degraded ecological systems such as forests and wetlands as well as river banks and lakeshores,” said Akankwasah, adding the population has to create sustainable livelihood by using the environment without degrading it.

He was speaking at the Uganda Media Center in Kampala on Tuesday where the national activities to commemorate the UN World Environment day was launched by Florence Grace Adong, the director of water resources in the Ministry of Water and Environment.

Adong represented Sam Cheptoris, the Minister of Water and Environment.   

The national activities in Uganda are expected to take place at Kasana playgrounds in Luwero. The activities will be held under the national theme: “Our Earth, Conserve for Life’. Global Theme: ‘Only One Earth’.    

Adong said the environment day is going to be organized under different activities over two weeks. The activities will include restoration of river Mayanja in Luwero, Nyamwamba in Kasese, public dialogue, and radio talk shows.   

Triple challenge  

Our Earth faces a triple planetary emergency namely climate change, habitat loss and pollution continues to poison our air, land and water.   

The way out of this dilemma is to transform our economy and society to make them inclusive, fair and more connected with nature, according to Adong.   

“We must shift from harming the planet to healing it.

The good news is the solutions and the technology exist and are increasingly affordable,” she said, adding that the population should curb encroachment on fragile ecosystems including; wetlands, forests, lake shores and river banks and restore degraded areas.  

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021- 2030 was declared last year to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent.    

Restoration can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. It will only succeed if everyone plays a part. In Uganda, we have developed a ten-year Environment Restoration Plan and declared the next ten years as a war decade for environment restoration.   

“We are making every effort to reverse forest cover loss, wetland cover loss and biodiversity loss,” she said.   

Economy suffers   

Referring to President Yoweri Museveni’s address, Akankwasah said over dependence on rain-fed agriculture and the destruction of the ecological systems are the two biggest threats to the economy.  

This was contained in Museveni’s address on the state of the economy over the weekend. Over dependence on rain and degraded ecosystem has made Uganda’s economy vulnerable to the changing climate, according to Museveni’s speech.   

“We have to apply irrigation and move away from rain-fed agriculture but this means that water should be available in the right amounts and in the places where it is needed,” said Akankwasah, adding that wetlands and forests store water.   

He said wetlands have declined from 15% to only 8.9% within the last 30 years. In addition, the forest cover had declined from 45% in 1900 to only 9% in 2015 and that the forest cover is increasing and currently estimated at 12.5%.   

In response to the current environmental challenges the country is faced with, government has developed a 10-year environment restoration plan which is aimed at ensuring that the environment is restored to its former glory.  

Akankwasah also pointed out that planting of 40 million indigenous trees every year is part of the restoration efforts by Government and its partners including private sector, Civil Society Organization, cultural institutions, religious institutions and schools.   

Water, environment poorly funded    

Akankwasah also decried the low funding to the water and environment sector. He pointed out that the only funding available is for paying salaries and running NEMA’s offices and that they do not have operational funds. He said the coming budget is expected to address the shortfalls in funding for institutions to secure the environment.