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OPINION
By Robert Kigongo
Recently, visited Manafwa District in Elgon Region of Eastern Uganda, but before the field visit, I was excited about the prospect of knowledge dispensation in agronomic practices, Carbon credit marketing strategies for economic growth and climate resilience benchmark.
Shockingly, the grass was not greener has I thought, the area was doing terribly in coffee producing and over all yields in agro produces.
Elgon, famously is known as the best Coffee farming region, sadly some areas including Manafwa are severely struggling with effects of land degradation, natural disasters leading to environmental and climate crisis.
In our interaction with the Kufu model peasant coffee farmers, they outlined challenges from climate change, soil conservation to extinguishing of Biodiversity.
However, some areas in Elgon Region in nearby districts of Bulambuli and Mbale, the farmers in Wanare Sub county and Wagagai are better than Manafwa despite facing relatively similar challenges.
The difference between the community of Wanare and Manafa is definitely in biodiversity conservation for better productive and production.
The farmer groups in Wanare are practising biodiversity restoration activities like bee keeping, massive tree planting, cover crop, bird rearing and animal grazing.
We can literally refer biodiversity loss as a climate crisis, therefore sparking efforts for biodiversity restoration and conservation.
The nexus between biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation refers to the interconnected relationship between how land is used, preserving natural ecosystems, and addressing climate crisis;
Biodiversity restoration significantly impacts climate adaptation and the reverse is true.
Habitat preservation: Conserving natural habitats maintains biodiversity and supports ecosystem services crucial for climate regulation, such as carbon sequestration and water shed services.
Ecosystem-based adaptation: Preserving and restoring ecosystems like wetlands, rangelands and forests helps communities adapt to climate change by providing natural barriers, flood regulation, and water filtration.
Sustainable land use practices: Agronomic Practices like agroforestry, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture promote biodiversity, sequester carbon, and enhance ecosystem resilience.
Land-use planning: synchronising biodiversity and climate mitigation and adaptation into land-use planning ensures that development and conservation priorities align, minimizing trade-offs.
Synergies and trade-offs: correlating the relationships between biodiversity and climate adaptation helps identify synergies like carbon sequestration and habitat preservation and trade-offs like bioenergy production and habitat loss.
Subsequently, addressing climate crisis requires a holistic approach that balances human needs, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation.
Collaboratively, Involving stakeholders in ecological restoration is paramount to sustainable climate solutions.
For example; In Wanare Sub County, a non-government organisation Eco Trust, Bugishu Cooperative Union, National Forestry Authority (NFA), Local government mobilised peasants to form committees and farming groups in Mbale, Bulambuli and Sironko Districts.
Eco Trust equipped peasant farmers with capacity building programs cum T.o.T trainings, seed funding, and social empowerment programs while NFA is providing free tree seedlings.
Eco trust has developed the multilane highway and achievement road journey tools for biodiversity conversation and climate change adaptation.
Subsequently, Bugishu Cooperative Union (BCU) is buying the Coffee beans from Wanare TGB carbon Farmers as a result of increased productivity.
The synergies between Eco Trust, NFA, Uganda Wild Authority, Local government paved way for recreation services, water shed services, soil conversation and Biodiversity conservation.
It’s vivid the Elgon Sub-region had tragically lost its tree cover and land degradation due to deforestation activities and land degradation.
Right now the afforestation and land restoration projects in Wanare and other other Elgon blocks has attracted partners offering incentives of ‘Paying for Eco System Services’ from the carbon sequestration.
Consequentially, the community led climate resilience projects with partners has bolstered biodiversity conservation.
Subsequently, there are four pillars metrics of measuring biodiversity benefits;
Species richness indicating the number of species detected at the site, Species diversity that indicates captures of richness and evenness, taxonomic dissimilarity and habitat Connectivity.
Ecologically, all these attributions are as a result of mitigating the climate crisis effects in the affected areas;
Biodiversity restoration and conservation has proven in many ways it mitigates the climate crisis as indicated below;
Restoring natural ecosystems like tree cover, wetlands and range rangelands absorb carbon dioxide, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Healthy ecosystems provide essential services like air and water filtration, soil formation, and weather regulation, supporting human well-being and climate resilience.
Conserving biodiversity allows ecosystems to adapt to climate change, maintaining ecological balance and climate resilience.
Preserving natural barriers like mangroves, coral reefs, and coastal ecosystems protects against extreme weather events and lake-level rise similar to what is happening now with Lake Victoria.
Ecosystems like forest cover, range lands, glass cover and wetlands regulate local climates, moderating temperature and precipitation patterns.
Ecosystems play a crucial role in regulating water cycles, maintaining water quality, and supporting aquatic life.
Biodiversity conservation can provide sustainable livelihoods, reducing poverty and promoting human well-being, making communities more resilient to climate change.
Preserving ecological corridors and connectivity allows species to migrate and adapt to ever changing climate conditions.
Conserving biodiversity can lead to new scientific discoveries and innovations, support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Conclusively, by restoring and conserving biodiversity, we can support climate regulation, and enhance ecological resilience, ultimately mitigating the climate crisis.
The writer is environmentalists, trainee of United Nations Food and Agriculture organisation and Eco trust in nature based business solutions