MY WETLAND CONSERVATION ACTIONS IN UGANDA- MOTIVATION, CHALLENGES, AND HOPE!

My name is Gilbert Tayebwa, a 30 years old climate and Wildlife conservation actor in Uganda, am also a Youth Global Landscape Forum(GLFx) Chapter Coordinator in Southcentral Uganda-Lwengo-Kyazanga Chapter. Currently am working for the International Crane Foundation(ICF) an International NGO that has been championing research and conservation of the Worlds crane species. In Uganda, Am building a career in natural resources conservation with more focus on serving to contribute towards safeguarding the endangered Grey Crowned Crane species. My background is in Environmental Conservation and Natural Resource Management from Makerere University, Uganda I have experience in community organization sensitization & engagements, environmental education, GIS & Remote sensing skills, ecosystem-based research. As a wildlife biologist, am also passionate about community conservation, technology, and innovation in wildlife conservation and management.

My key focus for Uganda is on ecosystem restoration, Biodiversity monitoring, and conservation, and youth leadership and mentorship, i also believe that by empowering local communities with the necessary technology, knowledge, and motivation to connect, share, learn, and act in their landscapes ,a world where human and wildlife coexist in harmony will be achived

I grew up to understand the relationship between human and nature, how trees, as they grow, absorb the carbon dioxide emissions in our environment, and at the same time provide many essential services to human survival

Knowing that it took the world until the year 1830 to record its first billion people has always gladdened my heart, as I imagine how green and beautiful the environment would have looked in those years. However, a population figure of seven billion as of today, coupled with eco-degrading practices and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources has shown how damaging it could be for nature. The encroaching of man into wildlife habitat in Uganda has resulted in more species becoming extinct in recent times

If trees utilize the carbon dioxide in the global environment which is a major driver of global heating, and in turn, provides oxygen for us, then I supposed it was just safe to assume that man would cut fewer trees, replace where and when cutting is inevitable, and restore forests and wetland/peatland areas that were degraded, but then, this has not been the case observable in the Ugandan environment especially Southcentral Uganda. People would rather cut and not replace, encroach onto the wetlands especially in cases where it is logged illegally, which appears to be often than occasional, even as the scale of the race against climate crisis continues to appear weightier in favor of climate change.

This unwelcomed reality in my community forced my empathy for nature, as its survival gets challenged daily by the same people who are supposed to care for and protect it. I could not bring myself to imagine how future generations would have to compete for so many things that our parents enjoyed when we first borrowed this environment, or how wildlife might be forced into extinction should the current rate of environmental degradation including poor waste management continues. The reality of climate change daily stirs right into my eyes to tell me how much we are losing the race, as the local farmers in my community lamented of poor yield as the irregularities in rainfall pattern intensifies, the early morning sun that once refreshed my skin had just become one that burns it.

At this point, I realized protecting our environment for me had to become a responsibility. I knew I had to contribute my quota to change the narrative. I knew I had to play my part in making our world a sustainable one. So I began to ask some questions that eventually shaped the activities of the GLFx-Kyazanga Chapter. Questions like; ‘why do people only cut trees and not plant other ones to replace them? Why do people unsustainably utilize peatlands that we hold so dear? If global statistics implicates agriculture as one of the foremost emitters of greenhouse gases and drivers of wetland depletion, thus driving climate change, how can we adapt agriculture to climate change? Does climate-smart agriculture sustain the lives of the people and the wetlands we treasure and how will people emblem it?

In my initial study among the communities In Kyazanga and greater Lwengo district, local community members whose major activities are subsistence agriculture had little or no knowledge of climate change even though they suffer most from its backdrops. So, I believe in promoting agroecological farming approaches that mimic the natural diversity of the wetland ecosystem among farmers.

I also believe that working with youths, marginalized groups such as women and children to restore degraded wetlands by replanting with indigenous trees on wetland edges, our chapter will also establish green enthusiast clubs in secondary schools in the area to promote knowledge sharing, cultivate the culture of ecosystem restoration in children, and also, promote the inclusion of youth and children in discussions relating to the achievement of the goal of sustainable development.

establishing projects in communities in South-central Uganda, our chapter will reposition agriculture to be a nature-based solution to climate change and nature conservation that we can trust using the agroecological approach, by encouraging local farmers to not cut down all the trees on their farmlands in their attempts to expand/increase production and promoting the use of organic rather than inorganic fertilizer thus achieving a farmer-managed natural regeneration approach. Also, to maximize the value of wetlands as our ally against climate change, as well as its co-benefit as home to wildlife such as the grey crowned cranes, vulnerable shoebill species among others, even as we advocate for wetland ecosystem conservation in wetland-dependent communities in Lwengo.

Furthermore, we have realized from our previous projects that most of the children and youth participants in our restoration projects often say they would like to restore wetlands, so we decided to work with youths children to ensure that our conservation and restoration effort is promoted and projected to a wider audience as the youths and children in schools encourage and motivate their parents not to cut down trees in their backyards and farms, and also, motivate them to plant back where and when cutting is a must. including not hunting for wildlife as bushmeat, sale in return they also learn that birds capture especially the grey crowned cranes for a pet is illegal and not a good practice

However, instrumental to the success of every ecosystem restoration project is the availability of seeds/seedlings including reaching a wider audience through excessive media channels such as television and radios which are the bedrock of our restoration and conservation projects.

With enough and available resources at our disposal, my team and I will be ever ready to plant until all degraded lands are restored, reaching a wider audience. Additionally, another major challenge is the challenge of getting farmers attention to hear you tell them to not cut down trees, and when you do have their attention, then starts the challenge of ‘why should I not cut trees on my farm when cutting it gives me more place to plant’. Visiting farmers' groups with incentives like organic fertilizers and seeds may over time help us with the challenge of getting their attention, but not the challenge of cutting down timber trees. However, we believe that incentivizing farmers for every tree they keep on their farms just might help with promoting agroforestry. Unfortunately, our chapter does not have the resources to make this happen, yet. 

 

However, despite these challenges, we shall keep forging ahead taking actions where we can, and as much as the resources at our disposal could take us. In years to come, our action plans will be aimed at restoring degraded wetlands and uplands in local communities, such as featuring the planting of trees and raise conservation and climate actors and work with existing youth-led local community organizations to improve wetland management.

GLFx-Kyazanga chapter works and hopes to see the Lwengo environment one day and the world at large become resilient and on a sustainable path, with more youths and women involvement in conservation and environmental protection, and to ensure that the generations to come to enjoy at least the same benefits and beauty that our environment offers, even as human and wildlife live in harmony.