Natural Resource Management in Uganda
Maintaining Protected Areas in Uganda remains a critically important and effective strategy to conserve biodiversity. Most of Uganda’s biodiversity is found in the Protected Areas, which are managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the Government body also responsible for the management and protection of wildlife outside Protected Areas, and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and District Forestry Offices.Local governments are also responsible for giving guidance to private forest owners as well as for the promotion of tree planting outside Protected Areas and for the development of District Environmental Action Plans.
Challenges
Reports and remote sensing work by WCS and other institutions have shown that deforestation, encroachment for agriculture and settlements, cattle grazing and wild fires are the greatest drivers of habitat loss and degradation in Uganda. The institutional capacity of the relevant government bodies to reverse the negative trend of biodiversity is largely weak and often constrained by inadequate human, financial and material resources amidst challenges posed by the complex pattern of conservation areas and the myriad threats they face. As such, these institutions often adopt reactive rather that proactive approaches to Protected Areas, making them ineffective at fulfilling their mandate.