Uganda
Ugandan wetlands policy praised

afrol News, 16 October - Uganda's National Wetlands Policy was the first such policy in Africa and the second in the world after Canada's. In Uganda, wetlands are enshrined in the National Constitution as ecosystems of great value to the nation and are held in trust by the government for the benefit of the people. Uganda's wetlands policies now serve as a model. 

- The Uganda Wetlands programme has become a model in Eastern Africa, across the rest of Africa and in other parts of the world, said Achim Steiner, Director-General of the conservation group IUCN. Mr Steiner visited Uganda and the Nakivubo wetland on the outskirts of Kampala, last week.

The Uganda Wetlands Programme began in early 1989 as a result of a 1986 edict by President Museveni that no further wetland development would be allowed in Uganda until a national Wetlands Policy had been developed. Accordingly the first two years of the Wetlands Programme - supported by the Norwegian agency NORAD and implemented by the Ministry of Environment Protection - involved a quick assessment of the extent and value of Uganda's wetlands and the development of a framework for a wetlands policy.

Phase II of the programme began in late 1992 - with funding from the Dutch government and support from IUCN - and consulted many wetland stakeholders across the country until, in 1995, the National Wetlands Policy was finalised and approved - making it the first such national policy in Africa. At the same time a national wetland inventory was initiated and capacity developed to manage Uganda's wetlands.

During a third phase of the programme, mechanisms for implementing the policy were developed at both national and district levels and processes were finalised for wetland management planning. Laws pertaining to the wetland policy have been proposed and the wetlands awareness strategy expanded to ensure that the people of Uganda are familiar with their rights and obligations in relation to the vast wetland resources of the country. 

At the same time, a Wetlands Sector Strategic Plan had been evolved to take care of the needs for wetland conservation and management for the next ten years and to ensure that local and district wetland interests are involved as well as the newly- formed Wetlands Inspection Division in the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment. 

Wetlands are now enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda as ecosystems of great value to the nation which are held in trust by the government for the benefit of Uganda's people.

The Ugandan government is praised by environmental groups, in particular IUCN, for its dedication to wetland protection. Since the 1980's, IUCN had been involved in the many steps of wetland conservation in Uganda. "From assessing the extent and value of wetlands, to the development of a policy framework and management capacity building, IUCN continues to be active across the board," the group says. 

Mr Steiner, together with his IUCN colleagues, during his visit had paid a courtesy call on Dr Ruhakana-Rugunda, Uganda's Minister of Water, Lands and Environment at the Ministry Headquarters in Kampala. The delegation then visited the Uganda Wetlands Programme team in their premises at the Wetlands Inspection Division.

Nakivubo Wetlands 
At the Nakivubo wetland on the outskirts of urban Kampala, Mr Steiner however was able to see that the programme not always works perfectly in practical terms. Nakivubo is an area of 5.3 km2 which was formerly a swamp dominated by native papyrus reeds and has been known for at least 4 decades as the purifier of water that comes to it from the urban runoff of Kampala and from the outfall of the Kampala sewage treatment plant. 

Since Kampala city water works and sewerage system was established in late 1950's, this swamp has filtered and "cleaned" the water from Kampala as it passes through the wetland and then emerges into Lake Victoria - 3 km away from the inflow for the Ggaba waterworks which provides Kampala with its water supply. 

Studies at the Makerere University in Kampala have shown how the papyrus and other native swamp plants have been cleansing the waste water of the city before it enters the lake. A 1999 economic analysis suggested that this service can be valued at a staggering US$ 1.5 million a year while the other benefits of the papyrus wetland included harvesting of the reeds for another several thousand dollars.

During the visit to Nakivubo last week, it was clear from the vantage point of observation above the wetland that most of the papyrus has been cleared and that much of the swamp area has been converted to the growing of yams. These vegetables thrive in such wetlands and are sold in the local markets and consumed by their propagators who live nearby. 

Unfortunately the yams cannot carry out the same services of filtration and purification as the papyrus and it has already been established that the swamp has lost its cleansing properties. 

The National Wetlands Programme is reported to be "very concerned" about this change and is negotiating with the Kampala City Council to have the Nakivubo swamp gazetted as a protected wetland so that the papyrus can re-establish and the swamp regain its purifying properties and so take on its former role and value. 

Sources: Based on IUCN and afrol archives

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