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Restoring and conserving degraded and fragile ecosystems for improved livelihoods among the refugee and host communities of the West Nile and the Mid-Albertine Rift regions

Purpose of the Project: To improve livelihoods and ecosystems resilience to impacts of refugees and climate change to the refugee hosting landscapes.

Description: The Project is mainly on the restoration and conservation of forests, wetlands, riverines, and savannah woodlands with three specific objectives:

Project objectives

    1. Restoring degraded forests, wetlands, savannah woodlands & other fragile ecosystems impacted by human activities in the refugee hosting communities.
    2. Support landowners in host communities to establish agroforestry enterprises and adapt Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices. The aim is to build agriculture resilience in the refugee host communities by enhancing adoption of Sustainable Land Management (SLM), Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices (minimum tillage technologies) Agroforestry (AF) Enterprises and woodlot establishment.
    3. Build capacity of Local Governments (LG), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), private sector companies and local communities for effective uptake of climate change mitigation and environmental conservation measures.

Location of Project

The Project is under implementation in the West Nile Region in the districts of Terego and Yumbe; and in the Mid Albertine Rift Region in the districts of Kikuube, Kyegegwa and Kamwenge. The four-year project is being implemented in a 15 km radius from the refugee settlements of Rwamwanja (Kamwenge district), Kyaka 2 (Kyegegwa district), Kyangwali (Kikuube district, Rhino Camp and Bidi Bidi (Terego and Yumbe districts).

Project Implementers: Project implementation is by a consortium comprised of Uganda Biodiversity Fund (UBF), NatureUganda (NU), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Ecological Christian Organization (ECO).  In preparation for successful exit, each implementer is expected to partner with the District Local Governments (DLGs), identified CSOs operating in the project areas, and the targeted ecosystems Responsible Bodies (RB) to integrate the project interventions in their plans.

NatureUganda is part of the consortium of four organizations implementing this project and it is taking lead on implementing wetland and riverine ecosystem restoration.  By the end of the project, NU targets to have restored/conserved 400ha of wetland/riverine, 293ha of woodland and have 840ha under SLM, AF, and CSA practices.

Project sites & locations

Under this project, NU has sites in 3 districts of Kyegegwa, Kamwenge and Terego. The selected implementation sites include:

  • Sites in WestNile Region (all sites are in Terego District)
      1. Yelulu Wetland
      2. Otumbari Local Forest Reserve
  • Sites in Kyegegwa (River Katonga Upper Catchment) include;
      1. Komuchwezi
      2. Kyakatwanga and Oruchinga in Sweswe
  • Sites in Kamwenge (River Katonga Upper Catchment)
      1. Kajororo 
      2. Rushango
 Registered Achievements
  • Five wetland restoration plans for Rushango and Kajororo wetland in Kamwenge District and Kyakatwanga, Komuchwezi and Oruchinga wetlands in Kyegegwa have been developed and validated by the District.
  • Under outcome one on wetland restoration/conservation, NU also supported the demarcation of over 65ha of wetlands of Komuchwezi and Kyakatwanga in Kyegegwa and over 30km of Rushango & Kajororo; and enrichment planting of 5ha of riverine in Terego.
  • Under outcome one on woodland restoration/conservation. NU has supported tree planting of 40ha of Otumbari Local Forest Reserve in Terego District, WestNile Region.
  • NU has mobilised and raised awareness of all stakeholders (district and sub-county officials, village Local council members, community members, opinion leaders and partners from the CSOs operating within the same Landscape) on the plans for restoration/conservation of selected woodlands, wetlands/ Riverines. Over 1000 people have been sensitized in the districts of Terego, Kamwenge and Kyegegwa.
  • NU has conducted site specific baseline assessments to set Restoration Indicators in Mid Albertine Rift Region and in WestNile Region. The assessments were conducted for taxa of Birds, Mammals, Plants, Herpetofauna and Ecosystem Service Assessments using TESSA- Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-based Assessment –Participatory Approach.
  • NU has trained 190 people (82 female & 108males) in agroforestry practices. The people trained hailed from the villages of Manipi, Joyia, Aligoi and Yelulu all in Terego District WestNile Region.
  • NU supported selected community communities that are affected with the ongoing restoration activities in Terego with over 30,000 agroforestry tree seedlings both restoration and fruit tree species (tree species included (Artocarpus heterophyllus (Jack Fruit), Citrus sinensis (Oranges), Mangifera indica (mango), Persea americana (avocado), Melia volkensi (Giant Lira), Vitellaria paradoxa (sheanut), Mahogany, Neem tree, Grevillea robusta, Melia volkensi, and Markhamia lutea) distributed to communities. Over 85ha have been established under agroforestry practices in Terego West Nile Region.