Management and conservation of wetlands in Uganda
Wetlands in Uganda are highly treasured natural resources that cover of Uganda's total land area of accounting to 13% of the total land area. In Uganda wetlands are locally utilized surrounding communities for construction, agriculture, tourism, crafts, furniture, fiching, human settlement and extraction of useful materials, wild fruits and hunting grounds. As the National Resistance Movement Government took over power in 1986, there existed devastating social, economic, political, environmental and poor wetlands management. In its efforts to restore sanity, the government in their first eight months undertook drastic measures to restore and avert the destruction of wetlands. Through administrative guidelines issued in September 1986, the government begun the restoration of wetland resources by instituting a ban on large-scale drainage schemes until scientifically proven and socially harmonious policy was put in place. Wetland funding Restoration efforts for Uganda's wetlands are received funding from the Global Environment Facility under a new climate adaptation project, which recognizes the significance of wetlands in protecting local communities from climate change. The funding enables alternative climate-resilient livelihoods to reduce pressure on nature and biodiversity. This is a five-year project costing over US$4.3 million of funding and will be executed by Uganda's Ministry of Water and Environment,