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{UAH} Teso wetland degradation: the elusive protracted war that calls for extra courage

Teso wetland degradation: the elusive protracted war that calls for extra courage

Teso wetland degradation: the elusive protracted war that calls for extra courage

By D. I. E. Aleku      

"Environment degradation is only driven by greed and ignorance," says Charles Otim, the District Natural Resource Officer Amuria. "We advocate for sustainable resource use to satisfy current generations' needs without compromising the future."

Fishermongers in Teso sub-region drag away marshes to catch fish. Photo by Nchi Moto

Fishermongers in Teso sub-region drag away marshes to catch fish. Photo by Nchi Moto

Lazily, cattle wander the dry-swamp sides freely. Half-naked young herds-boys in charge are taken up at the smoky fireplace nearby roasting little fish.

Sunset to gradually come at the later hour shall beckon them to assemble the much cherished family wealth to return home. It's an inherited way of living that has been practiced here for time immemorial.

But trends have changed in the recent past with discovery of rice growing in the wetlands. Livestock owners now have to take extra precaution while wandering the vast marshlands lest their animals browse on someone's rice field.

"Historic cattle corridors have become people's gardens," says John Oluma Oumen, a herdsman found grazing at the border swamp Katakwi-Amuria. "We find it hard especially accessing watering-point."

Herdsboys in Teso sub-region wedge their cattle through a deep end of the swamp in search of pasture the other bank Photo by Nchi Moto

Herdsboys in Teso sub-region wedge their cattle through a deep end of the swamp in search of pasture the other bank. Photo by Nchi Moto

Resource use conflicts over swamps have become commonplace between herdsmen and the rice farmers in Teso sub-region. Cattle keepers are crying foul that they have lost grazing grounds to lucrative rice growing that has become a dominant activity in the wetlands.

Tensions cut across from Kobulin in Kapelebyong down to Akadot in Mukongoro-Pallisa covering the greater Kyoga shorelines of Kaberamaido, Soroti and Serere districts. Often, the scuffles are violent and physical.

Moreover, ensuing angers and vengeances have left families and clans in wrangles. Ironically, the wetlands that form over a third of this 14, 518.3km2 or 5, 605.4sq mi nine-district sub-region are public resource, illegal to encroach.

"We find it hard to preside over cases of rice damage in case of animals' stray," says Francis Edison Okello, one of the LC1 Chairpersons that have arbitrated such rows. "Swamps are no-man's territory that even administratively they lie in between village local council jurisdictions to determine where to file a complaint in case of a fight there."

Structural design of sustainable use of the wetlands Graphics source: Amuria District Natural Resource Department

Structural design of sustainable use of the wetlands Graphics source: Amuria District Natural Resource Department

Dominated by sticky clay-loam soils with heavy marshy texture, wetlands are seasonally or perennially flooded low-lying areas with aquatic plants and animals. The natural resource authorities rank them into three categories of vital, valuable and dispensable depending on the size with dispensable being the smallest, valuable; medium and vital; the biggest.

District, sub-county and parish, boundaries here largely follow wetland patterns with administrative units beginning and ending in swampland. Sadly, the local governments are incapable of demarcating areas of human activity and no-use zones.

Formation of new districts has not been helpful either. Well defined territorial borderlines are lacking yet respective district administrations have different priorities to unanimously come together for joint mapping action.

Attempts to demarcate have fallen short of manpower and finance. It takes a district environment officer more than six months to inspect a hotspot or a place of contention and to plant a mark stone due to lack transport.

"We've not carried out comprehensive survey as a region to quantify damage," says Simon Achuu, the district environment officer, Ngora. "But as sweeping statement, all the wetlands here are encroached upon and have become seasonal from perennial."

Young boys transporting home thatching grass from a nearby wetland using oxen. Photo by Nchi Moto

Young boys transporting home thatching grass from a nearby wetland using oxen. Photo by Nchi Moto

Scramble for ownership of border areas like Aguu in between Serere and Ngora, Akadot in Kumi-Pallisa and Dokolo-Obur-Olekai in Soroti-Amuria among others have drawn battle lines. The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has attempted to suspend degrading activities in Akadot River in vain.

The authority rues 60% of the sub-region's drying wetlands due to bad rice agro- encroachment. Once great water catchment areas that completed hydrological or water cycle leading to evaporation, condensation and precipitation or rainfall these nowadays are people's rice gardens.

The bad practice says the Executive Director, Dr. Tom Okurut has hampered biannual rainfall patterns; March-July and August-December that Teso thrived on giving way to prolonged droughts and chronic famine. Kumi district is the worst affected with over 80% of its swamplands in Nyero, Atutur, Kanyumu and Mukongoro sub-counties disappearing.

Livestock and food production have diminished that NEMA is laying blame on the district officials for standing akimbo and doing nothing to save wetlands. Power to protect environment is vested in local governments but NEMA claims the district officials some of whom are culpable of abating encroachment have thrown back implementation to it in Kampala.

Locals in Teso sub-region catch fish in a wetland using illegal fishing nets. Photo by Nchi Moto

Locals in Teso sub-region catch fish in a wetland using illegal fishing nets. Photo by Nchi Moto

The local leadership though is quick to remind anybody of the districts' notorious recurrent financial and logistical deficiencies. The Kumi District Environment Officer, Emmanuel Okalang and the Environment Police Protection Unit liaison officer, Naboth Kusiima who have been at the thick and thin of these were bogged down by commitments to divulge further despite accepting appointments.

Inability to act has left what originally was 14.6% of Amuria's surface area, 13.5% of Bukedea, 16.4% Kaberamaido, 14.5% Kumi, 17.9% Soroti, Katakwi, Ngora, Serere and 26.3% of Pallisa in ruins. The district environment officers across the sub- region accuse local politicians for little or non-existent political will to discourage their electorate from wetland encroachment.

Unscrupulous politicians fan the wrongdoing claiming that their voters must derive a living from wetland cultivation. It's made worse by the underdeveloped environmental reporting channels that play to their advantage since the communities lack where to report conservation concerns except to misdirect to them as the only available authority on ground.

"Indeed, some of us have abused office and our actions have accelerated environment degradation," admits Max Ebalu, former LCIII chairperson, Abarilela Sub-county. "Do you still ask why jails are full? Or have those people not heard of laws? Well, that's how going to heaven is too. The word is preached but how many take in?"

Poverty and environmental degradation to say the least are inter-linked in a vicious cycle that people cannot take care of the environment. Teso sub-region incidentally emerges from civil strife that poverty remains the major cause and consequence of environmental degradation and resource depletion.

Scrutiny thus shouldn't only focus on cultivation and over-grazing. Multiple human activities have altered wetlands landscapes including artificial water channeling and draining to catch fish.

A young fisherman in Teso shows off his catch to the camera. Photo by Nchi Moto

A young fisherman in Teso shows off his catch to the camera. Photo by Nchi Moto

Senior science lecturer at the department of Geomatics and Land Management in Makerere University, Dr. John Richard Otukei is one researcher continuously studying environment degradation in the sub-region with a scope in Pallisa. He sums it up as, "the situation is worse not only for wetlands but entire environment and I don't see an attempt soon to save."

"Natural wetland ecosystem has been replaced by manmade and the organisms that used to find home there are no more," says Otukei. "Wetlands modify temperatures of an area and are related to moisture that is why we are now experiencing high temperatures leading to low productivity."

Home to biodiversity, brick making, sand mining, wildfires and inconsiderate constructions make up the catalog of wetland degradation. Subsequently, common aquatic plants and animals have disappeared as swamps silt and dry.

Sadly, the arable land available is diminishing with population explosion compounding the scramble.  Fertility rates here remain high with an average birth around seven with remote chances of education.

"We stopped cotton growing for obvious reasons," says one rice farmer preferring anonymity. "Unless government finds us an alternative cash crop, we shall not stop cultivating in the wetlands."

Labour intensive, the century-old cash crop lost its space in Teso due low global demand. Introduced by the British Colonial governor, Sir Hesketh Bell in 1904, civil strife in Teso bid farewell the "white gold," as it was known.

Traditionally, Iteso farmers use animal traction. But with the high rice proceeds, farmers ably hire tractor services.

Wealthy rice huller-owners in the urban advance money to honest farmers to facilitate production.  The up-front can be picked from the initial stages of farm preparation through weeding to harvest and recovered upon sale.

A fishermonger drags marshes to divert fish to his fish-traps in Teso sub-region. Photo by Nchi Moto

A fishermonger drags marshes to divert fish to his fish-traps in Teso sub-region. Photo by Nchi Moto

But categorically, environmentalists insist that destruction of the central portions of the wetlands in disguise of land scarcity is criminal. Though depleted according to them, if well conserved, the remaining natural resource reserves at the world's disposal can still support its population for hundreds of years to come.

"Environment degradation is only driven by greed and ignorance," says Charles Otim, the District Natural Resource Officer Amuria. "We advocate for sustainable resource use to satisfy current generations' needs without compromising the future."

Fishermongers in Teso sub-region drag away marshes to catch fish. Photo byNchi Moto

Fishermongers in Teso sub-region drag away marshes to catch fish. Photo byNchi Moto

Hence, Otim adds, "no individual has right over a wetland just because he borders it. Cattle corridors and the buffer zones separating wetlands from upland edge gardens must be respected."

Suffice it to say, inventories and management plans without action are dead. May be with climate change and weather extremes now weighing heavy on food security, someone somewhere one day will raise the red flag.

Inevitably, population growth and development are rolling beasts here that long triggered land confrontation now menacingly rampant. Simple alteration of the boundary mark is enough to prompt a bloody clash with retaliatory fatalities.


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Allaah gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him."And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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