Gov’t reassures funders over grants for wetlands

Authorities say that community benefit is the incentive towards the use of grants received from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to support the building resilience of wetlands and communities.

The Ugandan government is currently promoting the sustainable use of natural resources through the application of innovations and technologies that are environmentally friendly. It is hoped that this intervention will address the rising impacts of climate change, currently rendering many communities in Uganda vulnerable.

“We are grateful to our development partners, particularly GCF and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for supporting our actions that seek to preserve, protect and promote sustainable use of our natural resources ─ including wetlands,” Mr David Okurut, the Ag Director, Department of Environment Affairs (DEA) at the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE).

Advertisements

Okurut was recently meeting a delegation from the GCF secretariat on a mission to appreciate the performance of the USD 44 million Building Resilient Communities, Wetland Ecosystems and Associated Catchments in Uganda project. The initiative is jointly funded by the government of Uganda (GoU), the GCF and UNDP.

Implemented in 24 districts in eastern and southwestern Uganda, the project targets to restore over 64,000ha of degraded wetlands, 11,000ha of catchments, reach about 4 million people with early warning weather information, whilst supporting 800,000 people with alternative livelihoods. MWE implements the interventions in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

As of July 2024, the government under this initiative has been able to restore 46,767 hectares of degraded wetlands. Restored 2,023 hectares of the associated catchments. Communities that voluntarily vacate wetlands to allow them to recover are provided with alternative livelihoods of their choice. These include: irrigation schemes, fishponds, piggery, poultry, Apiary, and heifers. As a result, 20,374 households living adjacent to the restored wetlands and catchments have since received livelihood support.

“We have registered a tremendous result so far. By the end of the project, I am sure the government would have hit the agreed targets, enhancing the resilience of both wetlands and communities that derive livelihoods from these wetlands, which is our key focus,” Okurut adds, emphasising the fact that the government would exercise flagrancy when utilising the grant.

This resonates with the GCF Secretariat’s field findings. They visited selected district project sites and were thrilled by the results. “We are happy with what we have seen in the field. This project is very important to the government of Uganda and its people. As GCF, we are happy to continue supporting initiatives that help communities adapt to climate change,” the team leader, Euan Lau, said.

He said Uganda has demonstrated great potential in terms of actions against climate change. He notes that the GCF is open to supporting more projects, and that the lessons learnt from the current resilient building project will be very useful to future engagements.