President Yoweri Museveni has tasked leaders, legislators and all stakeholders in the environment sector to carry out public sensitization on the importance of environment conservation.
The President said this on Wednesday during a meeting with MPs from Bukedi Sub-Region in Eastern Uganda who visited him at State Entebbe. Bukedi encompasses a total of 18 constituencies in the districts of Busia, Tororo, Butaleja, Budaka, Kibuku, Palisa and Butebo.
He observed that people who have a high propensity of degrading wetlands do it out of ignorance of the negative impact that their activities cause to mother nature and as such, they need to be guided fully by their leaders to stop spoiling the environment.
Museveni emphasized the importance of conserving the environment adding that the masses should be guided by their leaders at all levels to desist from activities that degrade the environment.
He advised the leaders to educate the people on activities like fish farming along the outer borders of wetlands which benefit the farmer but conserve the environment at the same time.
He said that one can reap Shs 64 million shillings from half an acre of land per season doing fish farming as opposed to growing crops like rice that can only give a farmer between Shs 2 million to Shs 3 million per season from the same acreage of land.
Mr. Museveni commended the strategy of promoting illustrations to the masses about the proper methods of wetlands’ conservation saying that it provides a viable and sustainable measure that benefits all in the country.
“This measure solves a number of problems in society as it creates room for more and increased source of income, avails more water volume in the low lands for irrigation, sustains continuous growth of grass for mulching gardens and addresses risks of environmental degradation,” the President said.
He asked the legislators and government officials in the meeting to identify 2 to 3 peasants in their localities to open up a pilot project of fish ponds for others to learn from saying that government will offer excavators to open up fish ponds at the edge of the swamps.
During the same meeting, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Vincent Sempijja assured the President that leaders are committed to learn from the President’s model farms by extending a similar idea to all areas countrywide.
