Anthony Bugembe
20 June 2009
Kampala — THE ongoing oil exploration in western Uganda will disrupt wildlife conservation in the region if it is not well-planned," the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has warned.
NEMA's Environmental Sensitivity Atlas for the Albertine Graben launched on Thursday, notes that 10 out of the 22 national parks and wildlife reserves in Uganda are within the oil-rich Albertine Graben. "These national parks and forest reserves form a relatively continuous protected area system and are generally linked by wildlife corridors. These corridors facilitate the movement of wildlife between habitats that are increasingly being fragmented by farmed and urban ecosystems," the Atlas warns.
The Albertine Graben stretches from the border between Uganda and Sudan in the north to Lake Edward in the south, a distance of over 500km. It forms part of the East African Rift valley system.
The region has national parks like Murchison Falls and forests like Maramagambo. Lakes Albert, Edward and George are also in the Albertine Graben. these could be polluted by oil spills. Water and Environment minister Maria Mutagamba said that oil spills could have severe and long term ecological and socio-economic impacts if not well planned for.
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