In an exceptional move, Rakai District as recognized Sango bay –Misambwa twin Islands edict to protect birds and their breeding places from obliteration by the fishing communities. The objective of the edict is to make the district a tourist’s destination. The District wetland officer Jamil Kiyingi supposed that the bylaws will also regulate other human activities on the island for environment sustainability. Kiyingi said that through the ministry of local government, the district council forwarded the environment regulation to the attorney general for approval. According to the state of environment report for Uganda 2002, both the national environment statute 1995 and the local governments’ acts 1997 provide for the devolution of environmental activities at the district and the lower level government.
In2006, Sango bay and Misambwa Island, which are wetlands covering 6053 hectors, on the shores of Lake Victoria was designated as Ramsar convention site making it 11 Ramsar sites in the country. The Misambwa Island is considered an important bird sanctuary with an outstanding biodiversity supporting among others international vital numbers of four congregations of breeding bird species as well as representing part of Ugandan birds.
The islands are known to have the largest breeding economy for the grey headed Gulls in Africa and 75% of the total global populations of the blue swallow Egyptian Goose, Little egrets, Long tailed cormorants and greater cormorants other unique wild fauna like reptiles, snakes and lizards are also found on these islands hence important tourism destination and part of Uganda tours and safaris.
The central and southern regional wetland officer Fredrick Kiwazi says Misambwa island project that started in 2000 aims at conserving biodiversity and promoting the islands as the birding areas of Uganda.
In an exceptional move, Rakai District as recognized Sango bay and Misambwa twin Islands edict to protect birds and their breeding places from obliteration by the fishing communities. The objective of the edict is to make the district a tourist’s destination. The District wetland officer Jamil Kiyingi supposed that the bylaws will also regulate other human activities on the island for environment sustainability. Kiyingi said that through the ministry of local government, the district council forwarded the environment regulation to the attorney general for approval. According to the state of environment report for Uganda 2002, both the national environment statute 1995 and the local governments’ acts 1997 provide for the devolution of environmental activities at the district and the lower level government.
In2006, Sango bay and Misambwa Island, which are wetlands covering 6053 hectors, on the shores of Lake Victoria was designated as Ramsar convention site making it 11 Ramsar sites in the country. The Misambwa Island is considered an important bird sanctuary with an outstanding biodiversity supporting among others international vital numbers of four congregations of breeding bird species as well as representing part of Ugandan birds.
The islands are known to have the largest breeding economy for the grey headed Gulls in Africa and 75% of the total global populations of the blue swallow Egyptian Goose, Little egrets, Long tailed cormorants and greater cormorants other unique wild fauna like reptiles, snakes and lizards are also found on these islands hence important tourism destination and part of Uganda tours and safaris.
The central and southern regional wetland officer Fredrick Kiwazi says Misambwa island project that started in 2000 aims at conserving biodiversity and promoting the islands as the birding areas of Uganda.
A piece of land estimated to be 0.4hectors National Forestry Authority (NFA) claims to be their, has emerged paddle between the NFA and Mpanga Secondary School in Fort Portal. Mpanga School, which was started in the 1960s, wants to construct classroom blocks and laboratories to accommodate the increasing number of students, especially those under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme, in this piece of land but these plans have been frustrated by NFA claiming that the land is one of the forest reserves in Uganda meant for Uganda tours and safaris.
The headmaster of the School, Mr. Turyaguma Baramu threatened that the school will pull out of the USE programme since the existing classroom blocks cannot handle the large number of students without land for expansion. The school has 1,462 students, of which 509 are admitted under the USE programme, paying sh29,420 per term. Currently, the school has 19 classrooms on the O’Level block and five on the A’Level block. It also has two laboratories and a library that can accommodate only 200 students yet the number of students is yet to increase due to USE.
The Prime Minister, Professor Apolo Nsibambi, recently said that if NFA felt strongly about the land, they should compensate the school and give them alternative land. Nsibambi also directed that NFA should stop its evictions and gave a go-ahead for the school to construct classroom blocks on the land.
However, the headmaster alleged that when they started grading the land, Samwiri Rwabwogo, NFA’s law enforcement coordinator, led a group of armed men who beat the driver of the grader claiming that the school was advised to get an occupational permit to allow them use the forest reserve, but they did not pay attention to.
The parents’ representative, Silvester Kimara, said: “If NFA insists that the forest reserve is theirs, then the school will not admit more students under the USE programme.
The students’ leaders say it is unfortunate that the school and NFA are engaged in unnecessary conflicts. “We are perturbed that the Government institutions are fighting each other and wasting time. A year has not yet elapsed since the introduction of USE; must forest reserves be destroyed in the names of USE and its constructions? Who knows?
The Commonwealth Heads of government’s summit November to focus on Climate change and global warming as one of the key issues that will be deliberated upon in Kampala Uganda. Commonwealth heads are expected to sign a plan of action that will tackle climate change in the 53 member states. The Commonwealth Foundation, an intergovernmental body of the Commonwealth nations as well as civil society organizations in member states, is spearheading the initiative to develop a comprehensive plan of action, which will be debated by the Commonwealth heads as well this year.The foundation aims at motivating governments and mobilizing the civil society and other stakeholders to focus on the problems facing vulnerable people as a consequence of climate change, and the need to ensure long-term sustainable development for all people in Commonwealth states. The Director of the foundation, Dr Mark Collins, told participants at a climate change workshop in Kampala last year that the effects of climate change on poor economies must not be underestimated as its penalty could be devastating on agricultural production, health and energy. The Director added that without strong and immediate action, climate change will bring massive destruction to human settlements, infrastructure and agriculture, loss of biodiversity and permanent damage to ecosystems.
The climate change agenda was set at the 2005 Commonwealth summit in Malta citing it as a direct threat to sustainable development. According to a 2007 report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change, the warming of the climate system is evident from observations of increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, as well as rising global mean sea level.Following projections of the UN report, the glaciers of Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains, Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro and of Kenya’s eponymous mountain may disappear, and the Great Lakes basin climate models predict changes in annual stream flow and lake levels, with the possibility of more frequent flooding in the region.
The Kampala declaration on climate change will aim at the provision of scientific and technological support in the development of adaptation strategies and in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and promote best practice in creating awareness of the growing dangers of climate change.
CHOGM has given Uganda the opportunity to showcase the country’s rich cultural and historical uniqueness. There are several unique cultural practices in Uganda that can help pastel tourism in Uganda. Cultural practices like Imbalu in eastern Uganda, the history of Kakungulu, the Source of the Nile, the institution of Kyabazinga, which has never been exploited, will be designed to make them profitable. The summit not only will it help showcase the nation, but will also eminent for environmental issues since both climatic change and global warming to be looked at.
National Forest Authority in another land row with the internally displaced people (IDP) living in Omee Upper Camp in Wiceri Central Forest Reserve in Amuru. Armed with spears, pangas, arrows and bows and axes, the IDPs chased away the forestry authority officials, whom they accused of grabbing their land.
The army, the Police and local authorities intervened and quelled the riot. The security team, lead by the officer in charge of the district Police station, Charles Okullu, advised the National Forestry Authority (NFA) officials to suspend the exercise. The IDPs, who placed big logs across the road, vowed to set ablaze the NFA vehicles if they attempted to reach the camp.
Te NFA Ranger Manager Aswa alleged, the authority officials simply wanted to establish the number people living in the reserve and that they were not going to evict anybody now. The manager appealed to people not to look at NFA as land grabbers.
The LC3 chairman of Pabbo sub-county, Christopher Ojera, accused NFA officials of inciting people against the Government. He added that NFA should first sensitise the area
Its few days a go that again National Forest Authority had a similar incident in Western part of the country with Mpanga School. One wonders where Uganda is heading. A year can not elapse without land paddles either between the government and the locals or the locals themselves