Hilary Bakamwesiga
5 August 2009
opinion
Recently, on his maiden visit to the sub-Saharan Africa, US President Barack Obama categorically stated; "Africa gives off less green house gases than any other part of the world but it is the most threatened by climate change.
A warming climate will spread disease, shrink water resources, and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and conflict". Obama is neither the first nor the last to say this!
According to the World Resources Institute, over the past 150 years, deforestation has contributed 30 per cent of the atmospheric build-up of carbon dioxide, the most common and abundant green house gas.
Deforestation is considered to increase carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere because forests are major carbon dioxide absorbers (sinks), for obvious reasons - manufacture of food by photosynthesis. Therefore, any activities that reduce surface area of carbon dioxide absorption will increase carbon dioxide concentration in the air.
While fossil fuel combustion is believed to contribute much of the carbon dioxide from developed countries, Africa's contribution to climate change is mainly blamed on deforestation.
One may argue that carbon dioxide emissions by developed countries is so much that efforts by developing countries to reduce carbon dioxide emission is just like a drop in an ocean. This is largely true, but regional and local climate amelioration is still necessary to an agrarian economy such as Uganda.
Besides, through forestry, Uganda and citizens can benefit from Climate Change Flexible Mechanisms defined by the Kyoto Protocol (COP3) as different ways to achieve emissions reduction as part of the effort to address climate change issues. Carbon trading involves making carbon emissions a commodity that can be traded between Uganda and the developed world. Through joint implementation, we can invest and gain from emission-reducing activities. Clean Development Mechanisms is where developed countries invest in Uganda in programmes that result in sustainable development.
Despite the numerous socio-economic and ecological benefits from forestry, warning bells on climate change due to deforestation, and many lessons on sustainable development, the present trend seems to be negative.
The killing of people charged with protecting our forests, National Forest Authority (NFA) officials, is likely to jeopardise Uganda's efforts to address climate change issues.
On July 22, Patrick Kamugere, an NFA official and family, were murdered at their home in Buikwe in Mukono District. Earlier in January, Alfred Ezaaki and Emmanuel Asiimwe were hacked to death in Jubia Forest Reserve in Masaka District. Several other minor incidences have been reported in the last one year. This must stop.
The killings might ignite countrywide laxity of forestry officials to protect forests. On the contrary, murders might rejuvenate the climate change hard-hit communities since there are few other options for survival. As a result, negative effects of developed countries on our local climate will be supplemented by local ecological degradation.
The time to act is now and then think later. Existing knowledge on climate change is enough for implementation.
Action should be at national, institutional, community and individual levels. It should not only target protecting forests, but also strengthening the NFA and protecting personnel. Investigate factors that facilitate conflict between forestry officials and the communities such as poverty levels, variability in natural resources endowment, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
The government should invest in applicable climate change adaptation policies, programmes and strategies that consider social and economic issues. These should include sensitisation and education of communities in and around forests on impacts, causes and consequence of climate change.
Mr Bakamwesiga is secretary, Ecological Society for Eastern Africa.
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