By Charles katabalwa,
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
Civil society Organisations(CSO’s) advocating for Natural resources and Development has lashed out to government for continued licensing of investors to encroach on areas gazetted as protected areas for natural resources.
This comes when uganda joined the whole world to commemorate the world environment day on 5th June Under the theme “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience,” with the slogan “Our Land, Our Future,” highlighting the journey towards a greener future.
Addressing journalists after the stakeholders meeting on how to preserve natural resources held at Fairway hotel in kampala, Frank Tumusiime the coordinator of Advocates For Natural Resources and Development (ANARDE) says it’s everyone’s commitment to environmental protection through afforestation, good agricultural practices, and engaging young people in conservation efforts.
“It’s wrong to grant license to a company to do activities such as sand dragging that go deeper beyond 10 meters, Rock blasting among others it is against ecological integrity and those companies should pay for damage caused this this are the very reason for continued road collapsing,floods among others ” says Tumusiime.
“Threats to natural resources sector continue to exist affecting their productivity and sustainability. Many areas that have been gazetted as protected areas continue to be encroached for human activity, either due to poor enforcement of bye laws, or due to poor community attitude towards conservation” Tumusiime revealed
We also need to see the problem of financing and under staffing of environmental protection enforcement worked upon to solve the problem of monitoring hence protection of natural resources” he ended
Across the African Continent, natural resources have long been a source of power and wealth,often benefiting ruling elites and multinational corporations more than local communities, and this dynamic has contributed to cycles of corruption, conflict and poverty, hindering economic growth and social development,With continued competition for control of revenues from natural resources as observed in Equatorial Guinee ,DRC , Nigeria, Uganda is no exception.
To harness its mineral potential,the Government of Uganda is implementing strategies to promote private sector investment,focusing on critical minerals like gold,marble,iron ore,and copper. These efforts led to the Mining and Minerals Act of 2022.
