LIKE the mythical bird, the phoenix that rises from ashes and lives again, Nature Uganda is growing in leaps and bounds after a lull of two decades. The East African Natural History Society (EANHS) started 100 years ago, but in the years of political strife and civil unrest in the 1970s and 80s, it became dormant in Uganda. When President Yoweri Museveni took over power, EANHS was revived, but this was later re-named Nature Uganda.

In the stories told in many cultures, the phoenix has a 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self.

Achilles Byaruhanga, the Eexecutive Ddirector of Nature Uganda in an interview with The New Vision pointed out that the celebrations to commemorate a centenary reminds him that Nature Uganda is one of the oldest organisations. But he sees it as a young organisation at the same time.

“We are looking at 100 years, but that gap of two decades affected the organisation,” says Byaruhanga. “It is only 15 years of remarkable conservation work that stands out.”

One of the key achievements has been the identification of Important Bird Areas as key conservation areas. Some of the Important Bird Areas are located outside the Government protected areas. “We used birds as indicators to locate the richness of the important bird areas,” he says.

He says that the organisation has worked with Government to raise the status of some of the important bird areas into areas of global conservation significance. “Because of research undertaken by Nature Uganda and advocacy some of the sites have become Ramsar sites (wetlands of global importance),” says Byaruhanga.

In a year long activities, Nature Uganda will bring out approaches to conservation that is different from thinking about protecting protected areas like national parks and forest reserves. There will a series of activities through out the year to commemorate 100 years birth day activities start today at a launch expected to be presided over by Museveni.

“The communities should be at the heart of conservation,” he says. “The threats to biological diversity in the protected areas is not inside the protected areas like forests, national parks or wetlands, they come from the communities living outside the reserves.”

Byaruhanga concedes that the organisation, which started as a club of enthusiasts mainly scientists, naturalists and hunters has changed a lot. The founders were interested in collecting plant and animal materials as specimen, which they used for purposes of documentation. But now its focus is studying nature and implementing conservation activities with a mission, “promoting understanding, appreciation and conservation of nature.”

“We have been cultivation promoting a nature friendly public, enhance knowledge of Uganda’s natural history, advocate for policies that are friendly to the environment and take action to conserve priority species, sites and habitats,” says Byaruhanga.

NatureUganda is implementing conservation actions at over 20 sites including Forests (Echuya Forest, Kashoha-Kitomi, Mabira Forest Reserves); wetlands (Nabajjuzi wetland in Masaka, Musambwa Wetlands in Rakai, Mabamba and Lutembe Wetlands in Wakiso District, Lakes Opeta and Bisina in Teso region, Nyamuriro wetland in Kabale and various sites in Masaka and Bushenyi districts).

At all these sites, local communities are engaged in activities that link biodiversity, conservation and livelihood improvements. These include: Mushroom growing, fruit growing, Bee keeping, Eco-tourism, tree planting and other capacity building initiatives for conservation and development.

Despite all this work, Uganda’s biodiversity is faced with overwhelming challenges: climate change; food insecurity; energy insecurity; and burgeoning population growth. Uganda’s conservation and development work is faced with key barriers: lack of resources at local and national level, lack of thoughtful leadership and governance; poor enforcement of existing legislation and regulations; and lack of long-term vision that links conservation with development. These barriers and limitations pose a major challenge for conservation of Uganda’s biodiversity.

As the Society celebrates 100 years, the next 100 years look as gloomy as the past. Human beings seem determined to finish the ecological systems that sustain their very existence. Take the proposal to convert Mabira forest into a sugarcane plantation – the dangerous proposal purportedly to increase income and combat global warming by cutting down natural forest and posing enormous threat to biodiversity.

Byaruhanga poses key questions: “Will food be put in rich people’s cars when poor rural communities are dying of hunger? What space does wildlife and natural habitats have if land is cleared to grow sugarcane, palm oils, and bio-fuels?”

In the next 100 years, Byaruhanga points out that Uganda needs to consider innovative technology options that will bring about development and conserve our rich biodiversity and national heritage. “We must keep in mind the danger of only being the supplier of raw materials to more developed economies,” says Byaruhanga. “These and many other issues will definitely keep Nature Uganda busy for next 100 years.”

For more details visit www.newvision.co.ug