Bugisu Sub-region is one of the highly disaster-prone areas in Uganda. Government and private players over the years have concentrated their efforts in conserving the existing ecological spaces and restoring ravaged areas on the slopes of Mount Elgon.
For more than two decades, many environmental activists have carried out tree-planting, sensitised farmers to practice scientific methods of cultivation and planting of grass and trees along river banks. These efforts are intended to restore the green cover on the bare hills to reduce erosion and prevent big stones from rolling down.
Districts on the slopes of Mt Elgon such as Bududa, Sironko and upper Bulambuli, experience climate change-related disasters such as landslides during the heavy rains, while the lower belt of Bulambuli experience heavy flooding.
Manafwa District also experiences flooding from River Manafwa, which has its source at Mt Elgon. Namisindwa and some counties also experience flooding from several rivers such as Khamitsaru. In Mbale District, sub-counties in hilly areas such as Busano,Bubyangu and Wanale also experience falling stones from Wanale hill.
Several programmes including promoting the integrated landscape management approach for conservation of the Mt Elgon landscape (Mount Elgon project) by National Environment Authority and Ministry of Water and Environment have been implemented. Others also include Strengthening the Adaptive Capacity and Resilience of Communities in Uganda’s Watersheds (SACRiAC), Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) and the Mount Elgon Tree Planting Enterprise, among others.
The five-year Mt Elgon project under Nema is a government project which was launched in 2023.
According to Mr James Okiria Ateker, the Mount Elgon project manager, the initiative is aimed at enhancing food security and conservation of ecosystems that benefit rural communities.
Mr Ateker explained that communities around Mt Elgon have embraced conservation efforts and are reaping benefits from conservation activities. ‘With food security, we are focusing on four staple crops: maize, beans, Irish potatoes and bananas. We want to improve their production, but we are also working on additional crops such as coffee,’ he said.
He added, ‘We are teaching farmers to dig contours, trenches and retention ditches in the hilly areas. We also guide them on how to plant trees to improve the nutrients of the soil and also cover crops so that when it rains, the rains don’t directly wash away the soil,’ Mr Ateker, said.
According to Nema, the project has restored 127 hectares of wetlands since it started, 410 hectares of forest reserves, specifically River Namatala forest reserve shared between Mbale and Sironko districts.
‘We first developed the restoration action plans for forests, river banks, swamps and hill tops, rivers such as Makhoba, Khamitsaru in Manafa, Sironko, Kaptokwoi in Kapchorwa, Sundet in Kween and we are also working on River Manafwa,’ Mr Ateker, said.
Mr Victor Nahabwe, the commissioner in charge of Environment Enforcement and Field Operations at the Nema, says their goal is to ensure that all degraded areas in the Mount Elgon region are fully restored and they are seeking to replace all the foreign species of trees with the indigenous ones which are friendly to the ecosystem.
‘For this specific area we are opting for indigenous species such as Prunus Africana and Bamboo because of their ecological functions, like climate modification as opposed to eucalyptus, which drains much water and leads to scarcity of water during the dry season,’ he said.
Nahabwe said they plant more than 50,000 tree species in different areas annually. Ms Hellen Sarah Madanda, the Bulambuli District natural resources officer, revealed that all the fragile areas in the Elgon which have been degraded are facing landslides in the upper belt and floods in the lower belt, have got projects aimed at restoring the hilltops, river banks, water and soil conservation initiatives.
‘When we have heavy rains, we get landslides in the mountainous areas of Bumasaobo, Buluganya, Soti, Nabiwutulu,Lusha, Namisuni. The lower part of Bulambuli in the other part experiences flooding in areas like Bukhalu, Burnaware, Buwanyanga, Bwikhonge, Bunambutye, Nabbongo, Bumufuni and Bulegeni,’ she said.
Mr Michael Benard Ikanut, the Nema assistant commissioner for eastern region, said locals, especially on the slopes of Mount Elgon should embrace planting bamboo.
‘The choice of bamboo was not a mistake, it’s the best thing to do. I want to request the people around here to ensure that they are protected,’ he said.
Mr George Sikoyo, the executive director of Mount Elgon tree-growing enterprise, said they have planted more than 25 million trees across the districts on the slopes of Mount Elgon and turned conservation into a lucrative business for the community.
‘By last year, we had distributed and planted more than 25 million trees in Elgon Sub-region. We have engaged in restoration of rivers like Nabuyonga Nambale. We are now setting up community nursery beds that are attended to by the locals in their groups,’ he said, adding that they plant fast maturing trees to provide firewood, fruit trees and bamboo as the best remedy for the ravaged areas and destroyed river banks.