Presidential directive on wetland evacuation should be extended to Bunyoro

Op-Ed: Recently, the media reported about the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) intensifying the efforts to evict encroachers on the wetland, particularly Lubigi, which was under big pressure by encroachers carrying out human activities, settlements, industrializations, and other developments.

The operation by NEMA left over 1,000 occupants homeless because they were evicted.

The same operation by NEMA last week was extended to Lwera wetland along the Kampala-Masaka highway as a way of ensuring that the critical eco-systems, such as the wetlands, are protected from encroachers.

This is because wetlands play a big role in the environment and people’s livelihoods. For instance, wetlands help in natural water quality improvement, flood control, shoreline erosion control, provide habitat for thousands of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals, attract rainfall, and others. The wetlands need to be conserved.

Therefore, more operation by NEMA should be extended to other areas with immediate effect, especially where there are a lot of developments taking place in sensitive ecosystems. This will help the country save some of the remaining critical biodiversity’s

In my opinion, the NEMA should have started the implementation of the of the presidential directive on the wetland eviction from Bunyoro subregion because there are a lot of wetlands under big pressure from encroachers carrying out various human developments in the critical eco-systems, such as sugar cane growing, oil and gas activities, settlements, and industrialization, among others.

Human activities have left most of the wetlands, forests, rivers, and lakes under big pressure from the encroachers.

According to available data from the National Forest Authority (NFA), a total of one hundred thousand hectares are destroyed every year, seven thousand per month, while the rate at which wetlands and swamps are being degraded is equally worrying in the country, including Bunyoro, because of the corruption and ignorance.

The massive destruction of the wetlands has left the country, including the Bunyoro region, grappling with the negative impacts of climate change, such as floods, prolonged droughts, and changes in the seasons, among others.

If NEMA delays extending the presidential directive on wetland evacuation to Bunyoro Region, the region is likely to lose all the available wetlands due to the rapid developments taking place in the region.

Therefore, I call upon NEMA to extend the presidential directive on the wetlands evacuation in the Bunyoro region with immediate effect to prevent the wetlands from being destroyed by investors, individuals, and rich businessmen carrying out various developments taking place.

The author is Kato Paul, a research associate and environmental activist.

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