MPIGI - Residents from five parishes found in Kiringente sub-county, Mpigi district have formed a wetland management committee, intending to protect and preserve the wetlands in their area.
The community members, who gathered at Darshan Inn, hall in Mpigi town council on Friday last week, also formed subcommittees at the parish level, which are expected to oversee all activities of protecting and restoring wetlands in their areas.
Non-governmental organisation Nature Uganda, the Ministry of Water and Environment and the Mpigi district local government are currently undertaking activities to restore Ssemagimbi Wetland under the project dubbed: Support to the sustainable use of water and wetland resources for commercial flower farms and neighbouring communities in greater Kampala metropolitan area, with funding from the German International Co-operation (GIZ).
Currently, the project implementation team is working with local communities in Kiringente to develop a management plan for Ssemagimbi wetland with the aim of restoring it to perform its ecological functions.
The community members from the parishes of Ssekiwunga, Kololo, Katende, Kavule and Kikondo, which are neighbouring the Ssemagimbi wetland that has highly been degraded by community members and investors, say if the wetland is left to be encroached on by people, it may have negative impacts on the community and the country at large.
Ssekiwunga sub-parish chief Mark Ssazi welcomed the idea of the community members neighbouring the wetland to come up with plans to restore this once thick and green wetland cover.
Ssazi, pledged to give all the necessary guidance and support to the community in their plans to restore and protect the wetland from invaders who have either set up factories or cleared the wetland for settlement, agriculture or flower farming.
"We appreciate the community and our funders who have stepped up efforts to restore Ssemagimbi Wetland. It was painful to see that the wetland cover was being depleted and degraded at a high speed, we thank the Government for intervening," Ssazi said.
Kiringente LC3 chairperson Jimmy Kasozi said they had to mobilise the community after realising that the only wetland they had in the area was disappearing and facing degradation from community and investors who either put up factories or set up flower farms in the wetland.
Kasozi pledged to work with the committees that the community members have established to protect the wetland to see that the main aim of restoring the wetland and protecting it from encroachers is achieved.
Micheal Kibuule, the project manager appreciated the community members for joining the efforts to restore Ssemagimbi wetland by actively taking part in all of the processes.
He said protection of the ecosystems and other natural resources should be everybody's role because each and every person benefits from these natural resources.
Source: New Vision