Patrick Owori, Executive Director of the Human Rights and Environmental Concerns Activists (HURECA), which is part of CSBAG, noted that local governments lack structured climate financing strategies, especially in safeguarding protected areas in Busoga and Bukedi. He pointed out that the sub-regions are known for rice farming in wetlands, and without deliberate financial support for alternative livelihoods, it is difficult to convince encroachers to leave these areas.
During a press conference in Kampala, Benson Baritazare Kule, Chairperson of the Kasese Tourism Investors Forum, highlighted the festival's significant role in uniting the diverse tribes and cultures that have coexisted peacefully in the Rwenzori region for generations. He pointed to the Cultural Gala as a key event where this unity is vividly displayed.
"In science, there is no waste. Matter is not created; it is only transformed from one state to another. Plastic can be recycled back into plastic, and wood can be recycled as well. As a country, we only need to support our cities and municipalities with equipment to facilitate proper waste sorting."
Over the past eight years, UBF has mobilized and invested up to USD 10 million towards biodiversity conservation and restoration interventions in the country.
In recent weeks, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has carried out forced evictions in the Lubigi wetland area, demolishing countless homes and businesses. This operation aims to restore wetlands, critical for environmental conservation and reducing flood risks in Kampala and nearby districts.
According to Onen, while the Lamogi cultural institution had believed it was for investment, they later realized the investor was targeting Guru Guru Hill where he had begun excavating rocks for personal gains.
“The masons managed to scare off a few of our community members who had arrived at the scene much earlier on and by the time the rest of us were mobilized through the village Whatsapp group, two trees had been cut down,” she said.
Kiira motors cooperation is the first automotive factory in the country which is currently constructing a manufacturing plant at a 100-acre piece of land in Mutai village, Jinja district. The company is expected to manufacture solar-powered, electric and fuel supported vehicles.
Dr. Gerald Eilu, a Forest Biology and Ecosystems Management lecturer at Makerere University says that it is wrong for the university management to cut the trees especially during the breeding season for the birds.
When I met Her Majesty, the Queen in 1987, I told her that the Commonwealth was an Association of great potential. With a population of 2.4billion people, it is the only international organization that I attend and I do not have to put up with the inconvenience of translation with ear appliances.
One of the group members Wyclef Waako, explains that their innovation was inspired by the tones of plastic waste in the district, and the need for a possible solution to the problem. Waako is a graduate of Conservation Biology from Makerere University.
Ntagali expressed worry that the number of Boda-boda riders who have been killed in cold blood is going up while at the same time, cases of robberies and theft are also on the rise. In a number of cases, robbers have posed as potential clients to attack the Boda-boda riders.
Edward Natamba, the Executive Director South Western Institute for Policy and Advocacy, says passing the ordinance on paper without implementation is useless. He says the proposed establishment of management committees at the lower levels of leadership such as villages hasn’t been implemented despite being provided for in the ordinance.
Uganda’s forest cover has been depleted to 8% up from 24% in 1990s, largely attributed to human encroachment for different activities such as tree cutting for charcoal and timber as well as agriculture.
The wetland is a lifeline for communities in Nyabihooko, Nyabushenyi and Ruhaama Sub Counties and part of Isingiro district. But it is now covered in trenches, dug up by farmers who have started creating vegetable gardens, tree nurseries and rearing animals within the gazetted wetland area.
According to Largo, statistics at Pader police station show that more than 15 cases of arson have been recorded this year and several arrests made. Largo attributes the progress on vigilance of concerned locals.
Earlier, the Egyptian government, under phase I of the project, donated USD 2.3 million 9 billion Shillings for constructing gabions on the most vulnerable places along river Nyamwamba and de-silting the river as an emergency response to the disastrous floods that hit Kasese district in 2013 and 2014.
