L. Victoria hyacinth irk environmentalists
DESPITE the 80% reduction of the water hyacinth on Lake Victoria, environmentalists are worried that some hyacinth still drifts daily into the lake from River Kagera and other infested lakes.
By Mary Karugaba
DESPITE the 80% reduction of the water hyacinth on Lake Victoria, environmentalists are worried that some hyacinth still drifts daily into the lake from River Kagera and other infested lakes.
An official from the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project, Edward Rukundo, told MPs that the spread of the hyacinth was higher in the rainy season.
He said the weed’s spread was threatening the use and management of water resources in the Lake Victoria basin.
Rukundo recently told MPs on the economy committee that the establishment of weevils in River Kagera was poor, an indication of failure of weevils in riverine environment.
“The weevils have failed to destroy the weed on the river and other lakes, which eventually re-infest Lake Victoria,†he said. The hyacinth was first reported in Kagera and Lake Victoria in the 1980s.
Rukundo said the hyacinth was concentrated in areas near industries because refuse gave nutrients to the weed.
He said LVEMP was devising methods like pathogens and mites for riverine systems where weevils failed to control aquatic weeds.
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DESPITE the 80% reduction of the water hyacinth on Lake Victoria, environmentalists are worried that some hyacinth still drifts daily into the lake from River Kagera and other infested lakes.
An official from the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project, Edward Rukundo, told MPs that the spread of the hyacinth was higher in the rainy season.
He said the weed’s spread was threatening the use and management of water resources in the Lake Victoria basin.
Rukundo recently told MPs on the economy committee that the establishment of weevils in River Kagera was poor, an indication of failure of weevils in riverine environment.
“The weevils have failed to destroy the weed on the river and other lakes, which eventually re-infest Lake Victoria,†he said. The hyacinth was first reported in Kagera and Lake Victoria in the 1980s.
Rukundo said the hyacinth was concentrated in areas near industries because refuse gave nutrients to the weed.
He said LVEMP was devising methods like pathogens and mites for riverine systems where weevils failed to control aquatic weeds.
Ends