By Benjamin Jumbe
Ugandans have been rallied to join efforts to conserve the country’s natural resources including wildlife and forests.
This comes as Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Wildlife day running globally under the theme “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet.”
The scientific celebrations are to be held at Sheraton hotel in Kampala under the local theme “Sustaining livelihoods through conservation”
Speaking to Kfm, the commissioner of Wildlife Conservation in the ministry of tourism Wildlife and Antiquities Dr Akankwasa Barirega says conservation is everyone’s role and should not be left to the government alone.
The European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States have awarded Grants worth 368,939 EUR to five organizations in Uganda to address biodiversity conservation needs.
The funds availed through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Save Our Species African Wildlife Initiative and the BIOPAMA Action Component (AC), aim to alleviate impacts caused specifically through the pandemic.
Three of the five grantees in Uganda namely, The Environmental Governance Institute (EGI), Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), and the Rhino Fund Uganda are implementing a range of activities including diversifying livelihoods to absorb the loss of tourism income, implementing health protocols and monitoring to protect gorillas, and clearing invasive species to secure rhino habitat.