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Abstract

The coastal wetland zones of Lake Wamala are experiencing a noticeable shoreline retreat leading to loss of its resources and ecological services. This henceforth, calls for sustainable wetland resource management by clearly dissecting and understanding the prime cause of such losses. The study employed community-based participatory approach to capture stakeholder perceptions and knowledge on wetland resources in six villages namely; Mityana Town, Naama, Nkonya, Buzibazi, Mpongo and Lusalira. The study sought to find out the causes of wetlands degradation, impacts and mitigation strategies, needed to avert loss of such resources. Temperature data from Mubende Meteorological Station were compared using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and the average change in temperature was determined using SAS JMP 10 Software. Variability in rainfall was determined using the coefficient of variation (CV) calculated as a ratio to the mean and expressed as a percentage. Findings attributed climate induced factors as key bottlenecks to wetland resource loss. Findings further highlight increase in human population among other human-induced factors as cause of destruction and alteration of resources in the area. Results prove the derailing nature of wetland resources around Lake Wamala significantly affected livelihoods. In order to avert this trend, prudent measures such as formulation of feasible policy framework to govern and regulate activities in the area, co-management through local community and government partnership, capacity-building programs among relevant stakeholders to enhance awareness about wetlands and its ecological benefits in our quest to improve human welfare in the face of the changing climate.

Navigating Through Complexity: Profiling the main threats to Sustainable Tropical Wetlands Management and its Implications to livelihoods welfare and ecosystem governance: A Case Study of Mityana District, Uganda

“…This observation is consistent with the literature on most permanent wetlands in Uganda (Southworth et al 2010); which indicates that such wetlands are covered by papyrus e.g. around Katiko and Mpongo around the Lake Wamala system (Matovu et al 2019), and around Lake Kabaleka (Melnychuk and Chapman, 2002) also called Cyperus papyrus L. e.g. around the Kibale National Park wetlands (Southworth et al 2010;Hartter and Southworth, 2009) and in papyrus swamps of western Uganda (Olowo and Chapman, 1996).…”

“…as reported by a study along Lake Wamala e.g. in parts of Buzibazi (Matovu et al 2019), along Albert Nile in refugee settlement zones e.g. Palorinya in Moyo (Bernard et al 2022) or large-scale e.g.…”

“…in Kyambogo (Arinabo, Lacustrine wetlands e.g. around Lake Wamala are crucial shing zones (Matovu et al 2019). The sh provisioning values of wetlands are also reported by studies conducted along Lake Nabugabo wetlands in the Lake Victoria catchment that revealed over 30 species habituate wetlands e.g.…”

“…Wetlands are crucial biodiversity hotspots that avail myriad ecological, social, and economic functions and values to threshold communities (Matovu et al, 2019;Kakuru et al, 2016; Kakuru et al, 2013). In sub-Saharan Africa, wetlands and wetland resources are a catchment to inland water bodies that provide water, food, and non-food resources that sustain livelihoods (Malatu et al, 2022;Mugisha et al, 2007).…”

“…Though a global quantum on the value of wetlands is inadequate, an economic assessment of 63 million hectares of global wetlands estimated the annual value of wetlands at 3.4 billion USD with the leading benefactors being Asia pro ting with an annual value of 1.8 billion USD (Brander and Schuyt, 2010). Unfortunately, despite the immense value of wetlands, there is unsustainable degradation and exploitation of global wetlands partly due to limited enforcement, limited understanding and knowledge of wetland ecosystems, and perception of wetlands as 'free wastelands' (Matovu et al, 2019;Langan et al, 2019). For instance, it is estimated that whilst Africa has the largest amount of wetland area; estimated at 131 million hectares, it is experiencing one of the highest losses of wetland cover loss thence affecting the environmentally-reliant communities in threshold zones (McCartney and Rebelo, 2018; Xu et al, 2019).…”