This is a Joint Civil Society Position on the Environment and Natural Resources sector performance, published ahead of the annual joint sector review for the Water and Environment sector for the financial year 2008/09. It highlights the contributions of the Environment and Natural Resources Civil Society Organizations to the sector. Furthermore, it presents the challenges in the sector and associated recommendations for addressing them.

1. B. Civil Society Organizations in the ENR
annual joint sector review 2009/2010
Environment and Natural Resources Civil Society Organisations (ENR CSOs) are
engaged in the environment and natural resources sector to reverse the escalat-
ing degradation while providing practical solutions that deliver livelihood benefits and
sustainable economic development. ENR CSOs are also playing supportive roles to
government programmes to enhance sustainable livelihoods while sustaining natural re-
source use and management. They are also monitoring implementation of government
programmes to ensure that their implementation responds to the needs and aspirations
of the poor and vulnerable communities.
Environmental Alert (EA), in its role as a representative of the ENR CSOs on the sector
working group at the Ministry of Water and Environment mobilised CSOs in Uganda
to play a more pro-active role in the 2010 Joint Sector Review Process.. It has been
achieved through implementation of the key actions such as: mapping of ENR CSOs
active in Uganda, submission of ENR reports, awareness and consultative meetings.
C. What is the CSOs contribution to ENR
sector development?
It is important to note that CSOs contribution to the sector is noticeable in the four
sectors discussed below. In order to ensure sustainable economic growth and develop-
ment among vulnerable communities in Uganda, CSOs in their different capacities have
demonstrated key contributions towards advancing activities and projects that promote
a sustainable environment and natural resources sector. These contributions have been
made in various districts. In total over 100 CSOs have been identified with a geographi-
cal coverage of up to 79 districts across Uganda. These contributions are limited to
2009/10 (See Table 1 for an overview).
Preconditions for Economic Growth, Poverty Reduction and Prosperity for All through Sustainable
Management of the Environment and Natural Resources in Uganda:
A joint CSO position, 2010
Table 1: CSOs contribution to the ENR sector.
Forestry Wetlands Environment Weather and Climate
1. Tree planting of 1,480,000 trees in Mukono, Mubende, Kyenjojo,
Adjumani, Yumbe, Moyo, Wakiso, Masindi, Kibale, Kaswoha-Kitomi
and Sango-bay and Acholi sub-region has brought increased tree
cover on both private land and Central Forest Reserve. This results
in a total estimate of 1332 Hectares planted with an estimated sur-
vival rate of 60-70%.Over 1200 hectares of woodlots have been
established at schools and community level.
1. Awareness creation has led to communities adopting alterna-
tive livelihoods for wise use of wetland including ecotourism ,
this can be seen in Mabamba Ramsar site in Wakiso district,
Kibale, Malaba, Kasanje, Bigodi, Masindi, Tororo,
1. CSOs are supporting development of innovations in waste man-
agement and energy conservation at both household and com-
munity levels for example in Wakiso and Mukono. The districts of
Agago and Pader are being supported to develop environmental
ordinances
1. Awareness about climate change impacts as resulted in development and
strengthening of differentiated adaptation and mitigation responses to climate
impacts at national and local levels. A number of climate change impacts were
documented and various targeted innovative awareness educational materials
such as illustrative posters, Tree Talk Newspaper, video documentaries were
developed and can continuously be used for engaging various stakeholders on
climate change issues.
2. 1,900,000 increased tree seedlings raised in Rakai, Masindi, Mu-
kono, Sango-Bay, Kasyoha-Kitomi, West Nile and Acholi sub-region.
An additional 365,000 seedlings have been raised by communities
that have been trained in the above mentioned districts.
2. 12 management plans developed and community user groups
strengthened for different wetland ecosystems across the coun-
try. This has led to enhanced planning and management of
wetland systems at district (Kibale, Malaba, Kasanje, Masindi,
Tororo, Kasese, Kabarole and Kamwenge) and national levels.
2. Environmental audits particularly on oil related activities in Bu-
nyoro region to ensure environmentally friendly exploitation of the
oil resource in the Albertain region. This has been done through
research studies, awareness meetings, capacity building train-
ings.
2. Three REDD pilot projects and strategies put forward in Hoima, Katoomba group,
UCSD, Wakiso Masindi, Rwenzori region, West Nile, Kasese, Kabarole, Kampala
for advancing the National REDD strategy has seen climate change mitigation
processes take place. A community group has undertaken watershed restoration
through tree planting in Pece, in Gulu
3. Small and Medium Forest based Enterprises (Bee Keeping, Hand-
crafts, Fruit trees growing) supported in terms business orientation
and development) among 5000 private forest owners in Mubende
and Kyenjojo districts and around Budongo, Kihamira, Kaswoha-
Kitomi, Mabira and Sango-Bay Central Forest Reserves.
3. Wetland restoration has seen 2500 hectares of degraded
wetlands in Kibale, Malaba, Kasanje, Bigodi, Masindi, Tororo
restored
3. Over 500 schools in northern Uganda have established environ-
mental clubs through which pupils/students shape their mind and
thinking about salient environmental issues affecting Uganda.
3. Facilitated and supported climate change and adaptation actions for over 20
communities and local governments in Wakiso Masindi, Rwenzori region, West
Nile, Kasese, Kabarole,
Table 2: Sector Challenges and Recommendations
Challenges Recommendations Responsibility/ Who Implements Responsibility / Who Implements
Forestry Need for good governance of the National Forestry Authority and adequate institutional support (and
capacity) for example District Forest Services (DFS) and Forest Sector Support Department (FSSD) to
undertake their institutional mandates which includes among others protecting forest resources from
destruction and degradation
Empower FSSD and DFS to Provide financial, technical and professional support to enable them
plant and sustainably manage their tree and forestry resources and restore degraded forests
Forest Sector Support Department, District Forest Services, National Forest Authority
District natural resources Officers, Environment officers and Forest Officers
Tenure insecurity among land and private forest owners.
Tenure insecurity for private tree growers with permits to plant trees in central forest reserves arising
from escalating levels of politically motivated forest encroachment
Private forest owners on untitled land should be sensitised about their rights and facilitated to
register for their land titles
The need for government and the political leadership to address the issue of encroachment in
forest reserves (both central and local)
Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development,
District land Officers
Ministry of Water and Environment , Forest Sector Support Department
CSOs
Limited access to information, knowledge and skills for sustainable forestry management at the grass-
roots level
Build capacity within the Forest Sector Support Department to undertake its forest sector oversight
role and responsibility. Need for more focused platforms that promote increased access to informa-
tion. Capture, document and disseminate knowledge and skills to create awareness on forest
conservation values and develop more forest based enterprises for farmers to realise tangible
benefits from conservation
Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development /National Planning Authority - Forest
Sector Support Department . National Forestry Authority
District Forest Services, Saw Log Production and Grant Scheme
CSOs
Wetlands Inadequate information(baseline data) on the wetlands to guide policy and decision making on sustain-
able wetland management (Wise use of wetlands)
The surveys department in partnership with wetland management department should come up with
digitized maps that show wetlands and other natural resources of significant importance. Carry out
a national wetlands inventory
Surveys Department . Wetland Management Department (Enforcement)
National Environment Management Authority
Makerere Institute of Environment and Natural Resources
Economic Policy Research Centre
The value of wetlands demarcation and zoning process is not known. This has resulted in escalated
conversion and encroachment on wetlands resources country wide
Clearly demarcate wetland/forest boundaries and develop wetland/forest management plans in
conjunction with key stakeholders in the ENR sector
Create an attractive incentive package to encourage encroachers to vacate wetlands
Wetlands Management Department, National Environment Management Authority
Development partners, NEMA, Wetlands Management Department, CSOs, Ministry of Local
Government
Lack of coordination among key government institutions that impact on the use of wetlands (lands
departments, NEMA and Local government
Clarify coordination modalities among key government institutions in order to enable a harmonious
work ethic in the wetlands sector
The Ministry of Water and Environment, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development .Uganda Land Commission, Wetlands Management Department, Policy committee
on Environment
Environment Inadequate awareness / appreciation and committement on environmental laws and standards by
community and political leaders
Support the new districts to develop and enforce environment ordinances and by-laws
Develop communication and advocacy strategy to create appreciation and commitment to enforce-
ment of environmental laws and standards
Ministry of Water and Environment, National Environment Management Authority, Uganda Police,
Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs
Development Partners, CSOs
A weak interface between enforcement agencies, key environmental agencies, institutions and the
public resulting into lack of confidence by the agencies to act against the environmental offenders
Strengthen mechanisms for tracking environmental crime
Strengthen and sustain effective and efficient institutional coordination and networking with all key
stakeholders to mainstream environment in all sectors
Department of Environment Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs,
Directorate of Public Prosecutions. Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development
National Environment Management Authority
Conflicting laws that have led to continuous and massive depletion of natural resources e.g. laws that
give full use rights while others limit their use.
Review and harmonise conflicting environmental laws for example the Environment statute, 1995
and the Land Act, 1998 among others
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Uganda Law Reform Commission, National Environ-
ment Management Authority. Parliament of Uganda
Weather and
Climate
Lack of a national climate change policy and strategy to provide guidance for implementation of
climate change activities across sectors
Develop a climate change policy and strategy to respond to climate change concerns in Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment, Climate Change Unit, National Environment Management
Authority
Inadequate climate change information sent back at sub-national level Districts need to be supported to collect weather and climate information (e.g provision of equip-
ment) anlaysing utilisation and information sharing among relevant users.
Climate Change Unit, Department of Metrology, Ministry of Water and Environment
Lack of Human and Institutional capacity at national and districts levels to address climate change
issues
Enhance the capacity of the climate change unit as well as provide for a mulit-discplinatry team to
capture the multi-sectoral stakes
Mainstream climate change in the teaching curriculum for increased awareness
Ministry of Water and Environment, Climate Change Unit, Development partners
Ministry of Education and National Curriculum Development Centre
ENR Sector
Financing
Limited budget allocation to the Environment sub-sector compared to other sectors with little consid-
eration that it’s a productive sector. ENR is the least funded at 1.9% for the financial year 2010/11. At
local government level, 1% of the district budget is allocated to the ENR out of which less than 50% of
the allocated budget is released to implement planned activities
Government and development partners should prioritize ENR and increase resources allocation to
the sector both at national and district level through conditional grants
Earmark ENR funds at Local National levels
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Local Government, The Water and Environ-
ment Sector Working Group.
National Planning Authority
Development partners
Marginalization of the Directorate of Environment support services sub sector in terms resources
allocation compared to other subsectors
Review a criteria for allocations of resources to subsectors Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Water and Environment, Development
Partners
Governance in
the sector
Political support on sector governance and inability of institutions to exercise their mandates without
interference
Desist from interference with institutional business, provide leadership to inspire green ventures
and promote environmental integrity
Executive and District Local Governments, Judiciary and Parliament of Uganda
Environment and Natural Resources CSOs have a role and contribution towards sustain-
able development of the ENR sector as highlighted in this position paper. However, there
are still biting critical issues and challenges which must be addressed. The annual joint
sector review presents a window of opportunity for indentifying short and long term re-
sponses to these challenges and issues. If Uganda’s Environment and Water Resources
is to be sustained for the future, the following proposals are critical for consideration as
part of the undertakings for the sector in the financial year 2010/11:
•Strengthen coordination among ENR sector institutions and ENR CSOs at national and
local levels to advance their productive participation in sector performance appraisal and
overall sector development;
•Fast track the development of a climate change policy and strategy for Uganda;
•Increase funding for ENR activities at national and district level as a priority for 2010/11
financial year.
Furthermore, cross Ministerial and Sectoral linkages and synergies need to be explored
to address issues which are coordinated from other sectors like sustainable energy utili-
zation which greatly impact on the Water and Environment sector.
The natural resources sector is a public good therefore the general public has a role
to play in sustaining these resources for the present and future generations. They are
expected to promote good practices in environment and natural resources management
by avoiding poor practices (like poor waste disposal, uncontrolled bush burning, unregu-
lated cutting of trees, encroachment on fragile ecosystems e.g. river banks, wetlands,
steep mountain slopes), which degrade the environment.
While signicant contributions have been made in the sector, it is not void of challenges.
The high dependence of Uganda’s economy and related poor management of environ-
ment and natural resource leads to continuous degradation of the environment. This has
an overall negative impact on the advancement of the sector and ultimately affects the
potential of the environment and natural resources to meet the demands of communities
in Uganda. Despite the challenges we are optimistic that the ongoing environment and
natural resources sector reviews will consider the following recommendations towards
better performance for economic development and improved livelihood of communities
without compromising the integrity of the environment and natural resources for the pre-
sent and future generations:
E. Key Sector Challenges and Opportunities for consideration
F) Conclusion
OVER 85% of the Ugandan population live in rural areas and are highly dependent on
environment and natural resources sector as is the entire economy. The contribu-
tion of the sector can be exemplified by the fact that the livelihoods of any Ugandans are
intimately tied to the environment and natural resource sector as a means of subsistence
household requirement like food, income, and basis for production. In addition to this
over 90% of Uganda’s exports and energy requirement in terms of firewood and charcoal
for domestic use are contributed by the sector. Furthermore, agriculture, forestry and
fisheries contributed 21% of Uganda’s GDP in 2008 (Water and Environment Sector
Performance Report, 2009). Yet degradation of the environment through deforestation,
wetland destruction, pollution (of air, water and land) and stagnant agricultural practices
has become a lifestyle among Ugandans and has seen negative implications on tourism,
climate and weather changes which mostly affects women because of their domestic
responsibilities. It is worth noting that investment in sustainable natural resource man-
agement is a pre-condition for economic growth, healthy population, poverty reduction
and prosperity for all.
Annually, the Water and Environment sector reviews her performance in as far as
achieving set out objectives and targets, clearly identifying the achievement, constraints,
challenges, and opportunities as a basis for repositioning for the subsequent years. This
process has attracted key stakeholders in the sector including: development partners,
political leaders and civil society organisations (CSOs).
This position is premised on consideration of the Environment and Natural Resources
(ENR) Sector as a priority to the National Development Plan of Uganda (NDP). It ampli-
fies the desires of the people of Uganda to promote sustainable use of environment and
natural resources. In this respect, the forestry sub sector among others is considered
a primary growth sector, which presents opportunities for wealth creation. The position
presents the contribution of ENR CSOs (including: Advocates Coalition for Development
and Environment, Africa Institute for Energy Governance, Association of Uganda Profes-
sional Women in Agriculture and Environment, CARE Uganda, Community Develop-
ment Conservation Agency, Environmental Alert, Greenwatch, International Union for
Conservation of Nature, National Association of Professional Environmentalists, Nature
Harness Initiative, Nature Palace Foundation, Nature Uganda, Environmental Manage-
ment for Livelihood Improvement, Uganda Agroforestry Development Network, Tree
Talk, Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development, Uganda Forest Working Group)
in sustainable sector development. Furthermore, it highlights critical issues, challenges
and recommendations to advance sector performance. It is an output from various con-
sultations and reviews of ENR CSO activities and selected Local government repre-
sentatives from Mukono, Wakiso, Mubende, Moyo, Hoima, Acholi sub-region and Tororo
among others where ENR programs are implemented.
Notably, the sector is challenged by the following critical issues which if not addressed
would undermine sustained socio -economic transformation in the country: Limited re-
sources allocation and re-investment at both local and national levels; Poor governance
in the implementation of policies and programs in the sector; limited capacity of CSOs
both financially and institutionally to participate effectively in monitoring sector perfor-
mance. It is anticipated that the recommendations presented herein will be considered
in the ongoing Water and Environment Joint Sector Review, 13-15th October 2010.
Photo by Tree Talk: Fig 1. Tree Planting Initiative at a school in Agoro-Agu, Lamwo District
For more information contact: Environmental Alert. P.O.Box 11259 Kampala, Uganda. Email: envalert@envalert.org; Website: www.envalert.org; Tel: +256-414-510 215