NEMA Reveals How Best To Preserve Wetlands

Posted by: Andre Reagan in Uganda news August 29, 2022

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the body responsible for protecting and conserving the environment in Uganda, has revealed how best to safeguard our surroundings.

Speaking to NBS TV in an exclusive interview, Barirega Akankwasa, the Executive Director of NEMA, said having citizens at the same level of appreciation of environmental issues is the best conservation way.

This is because policing can’t be a feasible solution. According to Barirega, it’s impossible to Police 45m people even if they have the entire security force.

“Policing is not a sustainable way of managing the environment. You are not going to police the 45 million people even if you had all army and UPDF. It is not feasible. What is sustainable is having the citizens on the same level of appreciation of environmental issues,” he said.

He further said that the biggest problem of people is thinking that they can’t leave wetlands. They think that they get more value by constructing in wetlands which is wrong.

Therefore NEMA aims at solving this problem which has already deteriorated.

Further, Barirega said that if NEMA didn’t do anything to fight wetland encroachers, he believes there would be just 8% of wetlands by 2040.

“If nothing is done to arrest the situation, we project that by 2040, we shall have only 8% wetland cover. That would mean we have no access to clean water. This is because these wetlands filter our water and all the pollutants from all the industries running water will go to our lakes. We shall not have fish and experience more flooding,”

Barirega also commended the job done by the NEMA team to push encroachers out of Lubigi wetland a few days ago. Additionally, he thanked the people who were residing there for being cooperative.

With this, no single bullet, tear gas canister or gas shot was used to evict these encroachers. He also cited a similar incident in 2016 when veterans had captured the wetland and turned it into a marketplace.

Besides the food grown in most of these wetlands is dangerous for human consumption. This is because it’s laden with all types of metals dumped there.

NEMA, therefore, is not only protecting the environment but people’s lives as well.

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