Bush fires change plant species in Nakasongola
Apr 16, 2005
DURING every dry season, cattle keepers in Nakasongola district indiscriminately set fires on the vegetation so that it sprouts.
By John Kasozi
DURING every dry season, cattle keepers in Nakasongola district indiscriminately set fires on the vegetation so that it sprouts.
While to some, it is a hobby, to others it is to dislodge small animals like the edible rats for meat. The fires destroy habitats for the animals that live underneath the inselbergs. Those that escape hide in burrows, but birds’ nests do not survive the fires.
“Bush burning is the major environmental abuse in the district,†says Joseph Kimeze, a 28-year-old herdsman from Wajjala, Nakasongola. He adds that the prolonged dry periods are always accompanied by indiscriminate bush burning.
“We do not all burn the bushes for fun, but we want fresh grass for our animals,†Kimeze says. Once we burn the old vegetation, the pastures regenerate, which are good for grazing.â€
Kimeze and others do not realise that by burning bush, they are exposing the already harsh terrain to more destruction. Nakasongola has about 20 inselbergs scattered in Wajjala, Sasira and Kasozi parish.
They stand out at around 1,097 metres above sea level.
An inselberg is a German word meaning a rocky mountain. It is a unique rocky outcrop formed as a result of wind erosion. In Uganda, inselbergs are also found in Karamoja. They are usually endowed with peculiar ecological diversity.
The topography of Nakasongola district is generally flat and is characterised by minimal altitudinal (inselbergs) differences with poor drainage in the wide flat valleys and shores of Lake Kyoga. For the last two years, Nakasongola has been fighting fires, which have led to changes in species diversity.
Heat from the fire kills seeds scattered on the surface. There is a decrease in size of some perennial grasses. Fire changes the species of plants and animals that live in that ecosystem. There is soil compaction, soil erosion, reduced soil fertility, that are all signs of land degradation attributed to bush fires. The annual rainfall is less than 1,000mm. The district experiences a high evaporation rate.
Jamesbond Kunobere, the Nakasongola district environment officer, says the cyclic nature of fires in the district is an evidence of increasing climatic instability and change in vegetation.
“Because of the frequent fires, tall vegetation has given way to shrubs like Lantana camara and Acacia Senegalese.
These species suppress the production of accessible and palatable forage.†Kunobere says two of the most affected inselbergs were re-afforested with pine in 2003. A lot of sensitisation has been carried out to discourage bush burning.
“The district has plans to re-afforestate the remaining Wakibombo and Isungira inselbergs. The district needs more funding to afforestate the remaining inselbergs to improve the catchment area.â€
Kunobera says during the 2003 World Environment Day, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) gave Nakasongola pine seedlings enough for two acres.
Other semi-arid areas of Uganda found in the cattle corridor of Kumi, Soroti, Katakwi, Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts also experience extensive bush burning and wind erosion during the dry season.
In response to the effects of drought, the district and development partners are promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Water is being availed in the form of valley dams, in addition to promoting rainwater harvesting.
Different community and non-governmental based organisations are working hand-in-hand with the local government to promote tree-planting programmes.
DURING every dry season, cattle keepers in Nakasongola district indiscriminately set fires on the vegetation so that it sprouts.
While to some, it is a hobby, to others it is to dislodge small animals like the edible rats for meat. The fires destroy habitats for the animals that live underneath the inselbergs. Those that escape hide in burrows, but birds’ nests do not survive the fires.
“Bush burning is the major environmental abuse in the district,†says Joseph Kimeze, a 28-year-old herdsman from Wajjala, Nakasongola. He adds that the prolonged dry periods are always accompanied by indiscriminate bush burning.
“We do not all burn the bushes for fun, but we want fresh grass for our animals,†Kimeze says. Once we burn the old vegetation, the pastures regenerate, which are good for grazing.â€
Kimeze and others do not realise that by burning bush, they are exposing the already harsh terrain to more destruction. Nakasongola has about 20 inselbergs scattered in Wajjala, Sasira and Kasozi parish.
They stand out at around 1,097 metres above sea level.
An inselberg is a German word meaning a rocky mountain. It is a unique rocky outcrop formed as a result of wind erosion. In Uganda, inselbergs are also found in Karamoja. They are usually endowed with peculiar ecological diversity.
The topography of Nakasongola district is generally flat and is characterised by minimal altitudinal (inselbergs) differences with poor drainage in the wide flat valleys and shores of Lake Kyoga. For the last two years, Nakasongola has been fighting fires, which have led to changes in species diversity.
Heat from the fire kills seeds scattered on the surface. There is a decrease in size of some perennial grasses. Fire changes the species of plants and animals that live in that ecosystem. There is soil compaction, soil erosion, reduced soil fertility, that are all signs of land degradation attributed to bush fires. The annual rainfall is less than 1,000mm. The district experiences a high evaporation rate.
Jamesbond Kunobere, the Nakasongola district environment officer, says the cyclic nature of fires in the district is an evidence of increasing climatic instability and change in vegetation.
“Because of the frequent fires, tall vegetation has given way to shrubs like Lantana camara and Acacia Senegalese.
These species suppress the production of accessible and palatable forage.†Kunobere says two of the most affected inselbergs were re-afforested with pine in 2003. A lot of sensitisation has been carried out to discourage bush burning.
“The district has plans to re-afforestate the remaining Wakibombo and Isungira inselbergs. The district needs more funding to afforestate the remaining inselbergs to improve the catchment area.â€
Kunobera says during the 2003 World Environment Day, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) gave Nakasongola pine seedlings enough for two acres.
Other semi-arid areas of Uganda found in the cattle corridor of Kumi, Soroti, Katakwi, Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts also experience extensive bush burning and wind erosion during the dry season.
In response to the effects of drought, the district and development partners are promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Water is being availed in the form of valley dams, in addition to promoting rainwater harvesting.
Different community and non-governmental based organisations are working hand-in-hand with the local government to promote tree-planting programmes.