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Ibanda District officials during the launch of Kabobo wetland system demacation in Igorora Town Council on Wednesday
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Ibanda
Ibanda District has embarked on the boundary demarcation of the Kabobo wetland system in an effort to conserve the marshlands, which are rapidly disappearing due to encroachment. The wetland is located in Igorora Town Council and stretches into Kikyenkye Sub-County.
The exercise, which was launched recently by a team led by Ibanda District Resident Commissioner Godfrey Mbetegyereize, involves retracing wetland boundaries, placing concrete pillars, and sensitizing residents and local leaders on the urgent need to restore the wetland system.
The pillars are being placed 30 meters from the highest water mark of the wetland.
Aggrey Kamukama, a wetland supervisor under the Ministry of Water and Environment, said the demarcation of wetland boundaries is part of the government’s interventions to secure wetlands across the country and restore their ecological integrity.
The Project
The exercise is supported by a five-year project that began in 2022. The project, with funding of USD 4.3 million, is being implemented by Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment with support from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The same project aims to improve the livelihoods of communities living within the Rwizi–Lake Mburo–Nakivale and Enyau wetland systems, as well as the River Sironko–Arua system in Arua District.
With funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the project’s objective is to increase the capacity of both government and local communities in Uganda to implement ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in wetland and forest ecosystems, thereby reducing vulnerability to climate change.
Records from the Ibanda District Environment Department indicate that 55 percent of wetlands in the district have been degraded through human activities such as farming, eucalyptus cultivation, and sand mining.
According to Erry Kiirya, the Ibanda District Natural Resources Officer, a large portion of wetlands in Ibanda has been converted into agricultural land. Encroachers have been given an ultimatum to harvest their crops, cut down all eucalyptus trees, and vacate.
A total of 37.5 kilometers of wetlands in the district have so far been demarcated. These include the Rwambu, Mpanga, and Mukazi–Anyara–Mwamba–Kyangwahanda wetland systems in Rukiri Sub-county.
Most of these wetlands have been degraded as a result of eucalyptus growing, sand and gold mining, charcoal burning, and livestock grazing, among other activities, according to Muhindo Herizon, the Environment Officer for Ibanda District. The demarcation activities on Kabobo wetland will cover a distance of 3 km, with pillars spaced 150 meters apart.
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