NEMA grilled over Mpanga river project
Sep 09, 2008
ENVIRONMENTALISTS have attacked the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) over the destruction of Uganda’s ecosystem citing the Cycad trees at the Mpanga river gorge in Kamwenge distrcit, which are currently facing extinction due to several human activities.
By Francis Kagolo
ENVIRONMENTALISTS have attacked the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) over the destruction of Uganda’s ecosystem. Ecologists accused NEMA of malfunction.
They cited the Cycad trees at the Mpanga river gorge in Kamwenge distrcit, which are currently facing extinction due to several human activities.
The Cycads are woody trees that grow slowly, but help to improve soil fertility through fixation of nitrogen which they draw from the atmosphere.The Mpanga Cycads are unique to Uganda and have been attracting hundreds of tourists each year.
According to Dr. James Kalema, a senior lecturer at the department of Botany, Makerere University, the trees support survival of other organisms such as baboons and small mammals like bats and beetles.
He was speaking during a workshop organised by Nature Uganda, a local NGO, at the Uganda Museum on Thursday.
Unfortunately, he said, they are being destroyed through the construction of a hydro power dam among other human activities.
According to him, 99.9% of the Cycad trees are outside the protected Queen Elizabeth National Park.
“Numerous roads and camps are being constructed along the contour line where the cycads are concentrated,†said Kalema.
“We have no compromise for this. We cannot afford to lose such a unique plant.â€
Kalema attacked NEMA for approving Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports that are lacking.
“The report which was produced for the proposed developments at Mpanga River was highly lacking and barely talked about the significance of the cycads,†he said.
Achilles Byaruhanga, the executive director of Nature Uganda said: “Uganda has chosen the path of destruction rather than the conservation of its uniqueness.â€
He observed that the extinction of unique species would endanger the tourism sector which had been among Uganda’s top foreign exchange earners.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS have attacked the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) over the destruction of Uganda’s ecosystem. Ecologists accused NEMA of malfunction.
They cited the Cycad trees at the Mpanga river gorge in Kamwenge distrcit, which are currently facing extinction due to several human activities.
The Cycads are woody trees that grow slowly, but help to improve soil fertility through fixation of nitrogen which they draw from the atmosphere.The Mpanga Cycads are unique to Uganda and have been attracting hundreds of tourists each year.
According to Dr. James Kalema, a senior lecturer at the department of Botany, Makerere University, the trees support survival of other organisms such as baboons and small mammals like bats and beetles.
He was speaking during a workshop organised by Nature Uganda, a local NGO, at the Uganda Museum on Thursday.
Unfortunately, he said, they are being destroyed through the construction of a hydro power dam among other human activities.
According to him, 99.9% of the Cycad trees are outside the protected Queen Elizabeth National Park.
“Numerous roads and camps are being constructed along the contour line where the cycads are concentrated,†said Kalema.
“We have no compromise for this. We cannot afford to lose such a unique plant.â€
Kalema attacked NEMA for approving Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports that are lacking.
“The report which was produced for the proposed developments at Mpanga River was highly lacking and barely talked about the significance of the cycads,†he said.
Achilles Byaruhanga, the executive director of Nature Uganda said: “Uganda has chosen the path of destruction rather than the conservation of its uniqueness.â€
He observed that the extinction of unique species would endanger the tourism sector which had been among Uganda’s top foreign exchange earners.