Failure to implement good policies is disappointing

By  Francis Kagolo

Until World Environment Day, June 5, in a campaign, Save Lake Victoria, Vision Group media platforms  is running  investigative articles, programmes and commentaries highlighting the irresponsible human activities threatening the world’s largest fresh water lake. Today we interview the director of Nature Uganda, ACHILLES BYARUHANGA on issues concerning the lake

Q: What do you see as the future of Lake Victoria and its resources?

Lake Victoria is a basin with trapped water; there is no water coming from underground. All its water is from rain and rivers. It will dry up if the unabated degradation of its catchment area continues.

To sustain Lake Victoria we must keep its catchment. We also need coordinated efforts among the different countries including Uganda, Sudan, Egypt, Israel and Russia which are located along the migratory routes of birds to be able to conserve these birds. There is also need for a global effort to protect the sites like LakeVictoria where birds feed so that they can survive.

 You are passionate about conserving bird habitats around Lake Victoria. Why should this be done at the expense of other development projects?

Every part of Uganda is unique in its way. We have over 1,000 different bird species, hundreds of butterfly species, plants, over 1,000 bee species and mammals. Each of these makes Uganda a very rich country. Scientists have come up with bio-indicators, whereby if you find many bird species in an area it means there are many species of insects. Our studies indicate that Lake Victoria is one of the richest ecosystems in East Africa.

Before the Nile Perch was introduced, the lake had over 3,000 species of fish. In terms of birds, we have over 5,000 species of birds in the Ugandan side only, accounting for over half of the bird population in the country. The presence of birds is an indicator of various plants and insect species. If you degradethis ecosystem, you are going to lose all that.

Why do we have huge numbers of migratory birds?

Uganda’s location attracts a huge number of migratory birds from the south and northern hemisphere during winter. We have over 10 million birds that come to Lake Victoria every year to escape winter in Europe. On one side of the lake like Lutembe bay we have counted over three million birds that come from the Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.

These birds can leave Lutembe bay and go to Siberia, breed from there and later come back to the same site. This means that Lake Victoria is crucial for the survival of a big population of bird species globally.

The bio-diversity around Lake Victoria means the birds have plenty to eat. There are those which eat fish. Others eat insects, fruits and nectar while some eat fellow birds or mammals. For instance, the king fishers eat small fish like mukene, while Fish Eagles eat big fish. The massive population of lake flies also attracts insect eating birds (insectosaurus birds). Therefore, if you destroy this ecological system, you will kill their lifecycle.

What is the economic importance of birds?

The tourism sector is the second largest foreign exchange earner. It generated $805m (about sh2.1 trillion) in foreign exchange earnings in the fiscal year 2011/2012. In particular, the sector’s total contribution to GDP in 2011 wasestimated at $1.4b (about sh3.5 trillion), representing 7.6% of GDP, trailing only remittances from abroad.

Bird watching alone brings over $6m (sh15.3b), doubling earnings from gorilla tracking. Birding is a high-end tourism product; birders stay longer, leaving more money in the country. Even the President has started talking about promoting tourism to achieve economic growth.

The Vision 2040 talks about earning sh12b annually from tourism. The biggest tourist attraction we have is biodiversity and the scenic beauty of the country.

Saddle billed stork common in wetlands . This bird could become extinct without wetlands

How did birds get to know about Lake Victoria to start coming?

There are pointers that during winter the northern hemisphere freezes and thousands of birds move southwards until they find food. They are like nomads; when drought comes they have to keep moving until they find grass for their animals. But science has also detected magnetic chips in the heads of birds which are aligned to the north and south poles. So their movement is connected to the magnetism of the world. That is why they rarely move to the east or west.

How long does it take one bird to fly from Europe to Lake Victoria?

Scientists in Europe one time put satellite tags in some birds to follow their movements. One of the birds, a Gull, took one trip from Caspian Sea near Russia and Eastern Europe, direct to Entebbe where it landed. It took it six days to cover the distance. So if these birds do not get enough food to enable them move long distances they will not be able to cross the deserts. That is why we need to conserve Lake Victoria and its catchment.

How can we encourage more birds to fly to Uganda?

It is not necessary because we have enough birds in Uganda. We have both resident and migratory birds. What is needed is to protect the resource (Lake Victoria) because if there is enough food for the birds and their breeding points and roosting sites are protected, many more will come.

Can we not make migratory birds become resident?

Birds are knowledgeable; they know that moving has a lot of risks and wastes energy. That is why when time comes for them to move back to Europe the young ones do not go. If one is interested in birds, they can see all species in the country throughout the year because even some of the migratory ones stay and after some time end up breeding from here.

How have you seen the  environment around Lake Victoria changing in your many years’ experience with the birds?

We have seen the population around the lake going up. This has increased the number of boats and fishermen. Unregulated access to the lake has caused overfishing, which degrades the lake and reduces food for birds. There has been effort by the Government to conserve critical areas around the lake through creation of Ramsar sites like Lutembe, Nabugabo and Sango Bay.

But most of the problems are in the catchment area mainly due to pollution from the factories. Nakivubo channel, which used to sieve pollutants from the city before they reached the lake, has been encroached on. Scientists say that its depth is reducing because of siltation.

What has been your greatest disappointment working with the Government in the conservation sector?

Failure by the Government to implement good policies. It tried to conserve the lake through establishing fresh water parks before CHOGM in 2007, but the idea died the same day it was announced. You will not find a developed eco-tourism facility on Lake Victoria.

Tourists come here for holiday to have fun but we are still using local boats to transport them on the lake. It means Lake Victoria’s eco-system is an untapped resource with huge potential for tourism.

IT’S YOUR TURN
How can you save the lake?
Did you know that donating to a civil society group such as the Wildlife Clubs of Uganda or Go Green Campaign” would go a long way in promoting conservation education that would help change the mind set of people and nurture young people into responsible citizens?