Sironko district in Eastern Uganda is hosting this year’s World Environment day running under the National theme; Land Restoration and Climate Resilience.
World Environment Day, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, and it serves as a global platform for raising awareness and promoting action for the protection of the environment. This year, the international celebrations will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a focus on the critical theme of “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience.”
The theme aligns with the urgent call for action to restore degraded landscapes, protecting essential ecosystem services. Land restoration is a pivotal aspect of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), contributing significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The National theme emphasizes the critical need to restore land for climate resilience, human well-being, wealth creation, job opportunities, and sustainable socio-economic transformation and it aligns with the Government’s Ten-Year Plan of Action for Restoration of the Environment and Natural Resources in Uganda (2021-2031), the National Vision 2024, and the National Development Plan.
The primary objective of the 2024 celebrations is to raise awareness about the importance of restoring degraded ecosystems, aiming at inspiring stakeholders at various levels to take meaningful actions towards the restoration of ecosystems.
Ecosystems in Uganda are increasingly being threatened by various human activities, even those that are protected by government acts. Wetland and forest losses are higher in the lake basin area than national averages that are high in any case – According to ECO Uganda, 75% of wetlands are considered significantly damaged already, while loss of forest cover is running at 1.7% annually.
The progressive, systematic and induced unsustainable management of fragile ecosystems has caused declining resource productivity and resilience, resource scarcities, inequitable access that breeds conflicts, population displacements and worsen human vulnerability. As such, ecosystem management and restoration is key for enhancing land productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing the quality of life or resource-dependent farmers,pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and fisher-folk.
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