There is a call for concerted efforts if we are to save our planet. As such, children from five primary schools in the Masindi district have taken the lead in conserving the environment.

The schools, located around the Budongo forest reserve, mobilized by Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) for this effort, are Kalengijo, Nyabyeya, Karongo, Budongo Sawmill, and St. Andrea Kahwa primary schools.

The children are planting trees and sensitizing the communities on the need to conserve the environment through exhibitions and music, dance, and drama, with support from Budongo Field Conservation, a Ugandan wildlife and environmental conservation organization.

Through the program, the children have been trained on the importance of environmental conservation and they have been taken around Bodongo forest to appreciate the importance of forests, both as a natural habitat and a climate modifier.

As a result, the children have taken on tree planting at their homes and school. Thirteen-year-old Precious Asiimwe, a P5 pupil of Nyebyeya Primary School, says she has so far planted 30 Mahogany trees at their home and she plans to plant more.

Asiimwe says on top of conserving the environment, she hopes to earn income from his private forest in the future.

The pupil, who is knowledgeable on tree nursery bed preparation, encourages fellow children and community members to embrace tree planting to conserve the environment and generate income.

Fred Kyarisiima, a P6 pupil of Karongo Primary School in Karongo parish, says he has so far planted 20 eucalyptus trees.

Kyariisima says he has also sensitized his peers in the village on nursery bed preparation and tree planting.

Fred Begumya, a teacher at the school, says the pupils have so far planted several indigenous trees at the school.

“With support from BCFS, we participated in a chimpanzee conservation challenge sometime back and got some money, which we are using to buy more tree seeds and plants. I am happy that the learners have embraced environmental conservation in schools and their homes,” Begumya says.

Prof. Fred Babweteera

Oliver Asiimwe, the Masindi district education officer in charge of special needs education, says they have been encouraging schools to ensure that learners are involved in environmental conservation activities as one way of combatting climate change.

“As a department, we support the schools and we have a policy where every member of the school management committee should plant 100 trees at the schools,” Asiimwe says.

Residents speak out 

Jackson Kamwesiga, a resident of Bujenje, says besides the school dramas to sensitize the locals on the dangers of cutting down trees without replacement, the children also move to communities on selected days and perform.

“We have learned a lot from them. Some of the people who have been poaching have started reforming because of the continued community sensitizations by the learners,” Kamwesiga said.

Irene Mbabazi, a resident of Masindi, says there is a need for all schools in the district to take the lead in environmental conservation.

“If all schools learn from the five schools around Budongo forest, we shall have achieved a lot because they are positively transforming the lives of the people within the communities. People are now planting trees,” Mbabazi says.

“The current situation demands that the country undertakes the journey of cultivating a spirit of nature conservation right from schools and I am happy that in Masindi, learners are taking the lead,” she adds.

Experts speak out

Prof. Fred Babweteera, the dean School of Environmental Studies at Makerere University, says the involvement of school children in environmental conservation is key because most of Uganda’s natural forest cover has been depleted.

“We need to build an environmentally-responsive generation, hence providing a sustainable solution to environmental destruction,” Babweteera says.

“Environmental degradation is alarming in the country, with forests and wetlands being encroached on for farmland and settlement. We are scaling up conservation efforts in the district to guard against the likely environmental hazards associated with oil activities,” he says.

Boaz Basigirwenda, the National Forestry Authority (NFA) manager for Budongo, say they are giving out trees to schools and also helping them to plant.

“We are working with schools and helping them in conservation. We are also encouraging the schools to form clubs so that we can go and train them and provide them with free seedlings for planting,” Basigirwenda says.

He says there is a need to educate citizens about the need for environmental management because people are destroying the environment.

Basigirwenda says community-led efforts will bring about change because effective sensitization is being done and once people understand conservation, they will not destroy the resources.

He says the approach seeks to build community networks that can collaborate and mobilize for conservation and ensure stronger compliance, promote reformation, revitalize environmental protection laws, and have strong support from the local leadership from the village to district level.