CURRENT PROJECTS:

Rubigi Swamp Reclamation Project - Phase I

At the moment, we are undertaking an environment project spearheaded by our Environment Protection and Conservation Programme. Rubigi Swamp is one of the biggest ecological zones surrounding Lake Victoria. The swamp comprise a stream that flows through various slums and finally pours its waters into lake Victoria.

Lake Victoria is the largest fresh water source shared by the three East African Countries (ie Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). This lake also marks the source of the great River Nile which flows through Sudan & Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. However, this lake is highly polluted because the water which flows from the streams and feed it, is highly polluted. This is because the streams nolonger perform their fundamental function of water filtration. The swamp vegetation has been destroyed through man’s activities like agriculture, overgrazing, conjested settlements, Industrialisation and many others.

Rubigi is one of the swamps that have been severely degraded. The swamp vegetation has been cleared to provide land for small scale peasant’s agriculture, construction of dwelling units, grazing, uncontrolled harvesting of forest resources, releasing human faecal material into the swamp, clay mining etc.

In the last three months we have been undertaking several intervention measures and we shall be continuing with the same for the next nine months.

Intervention Measures being Undertaken:

A. Sensitisation Campaign:
We have embarked on a massive senitisation campaign to teach the people residing around this swamp on it’s importance (and other swamps). During our interaction with the people, we found out that there is lack of knowledge about ecological functions of a swamp, how swamp resources can be sustainably developed and utilised, the legal frame work within which swamps are embedded and the protecting and conserving swamp bio-diversity.

Through the use of IEC material, we have tried our level best to educate the locals about their responsibility as far as this swamp is concerned. We have printed charts, calendars, posters and brochures in english and in the local language (Luganda) in order to put our message of environmental protection and conservation across. These IEC materials have been distributed door-to-door in order to ensure that every household gets access to this information.

Meetings have been organised on local council basis, in bars and churches in order to give talks to those who cannot read. So far, we have not faced any significant challenge in our sensitisation endeavour.

B. Replanting swamp vegatation:
Much of this swamp has been cleared to provide land for small scale agriculture and home steads. The cleared land has been planted with yams, sugarcane and eucalyptus trees. Eucalyptus trees are widely known to contribute towards the eventual “death” of swamps by draining them to dryness. This scenario coupled with grazing cattle in this swamp has led to detoriation of the quality of swamp vegetation and the quality of swamp vegetation and hence the decline in its water filtration capacity.

In the last three months, we have been able to convince several farmers to surrender their land through both personal understanding and legal means. This land has been replanted with elephant grass by AFH volunteers. Elephant grass has the ability to accelerate succession in swamps by enhancing the growth of other flora especially papyrus.

This has played a great role in restoring the water filtration capacity of the swamp.

The people have also been encouraged to undertake the idea of selective harvesting of swamp resource especially papyrus in order to achieve sustainable harvesting.


C. Refilling of sand and clay mines (pools):
The quest for building materials in Kampala City and its suburbs has led to uncontrollable excavation of the swamp surface in search for sand and clay for brick making. As a result, water has accumulated in mines that have been left behind by sand miners and brick makers. The two major impacts of these mines include impending the flow of nutrients downstream and acting as breeding ground for mosquitoes which are the vectors for plasmodia that causes malaria in human beings.

We have developed two intervention measures ie refilling the mines/holes with sorted degradable waste (especially kitchen refuse) and turning these holes into fish ponds. However, we have not been as much pre-occupied with the latter as with the former. This method of refilling has been highly welcomed by the city authorities as it contributes towards solving the waste disposal problem.It has also reduced on the habit of dumping waste in the streams.

This particular method has been found to be very effective because the rate of degradation of the
material used to refill the mines is high.This means that more sand is made from this material in a short time thus enabling the miners to start digging in the same area within a short period(usually one to two years).

D. Advocacy:
Due to widespread rural-urban migration, there has been a recent upsurge in the number of people settling in gazetted areas especially swamps and game parks. Rubigi swamp has had its fair share of people constructing houses and other structures in it. This has been associated with swamp vegetation clearance and poor waste disposal.

Because of our concern for this swamp, we have engaged ourselves in advocating for a programme that can cater for the relocation of the families living in this swamp. This is because we have not yet developed the capacity to do this ourselves. Land has to be sought else where so that these people are resettled there and the swamp given another chance to regenerate and perform its fundamental function of acting as natural sinks.

We would like to say that with the influence of a coalition of other environment concern organisations, a big step forward has been taken towards a legislation gazetting all swamps as delicate ecological zones. This will prevent people from carrying out any development activities in these swamps and contribute towards the national environment conservation programme.