The Uganda Atlas

Biomass

Land use/land cover Land use/land cover km 2 %

Hardwood Plantations Softwood Plantation

0.31

0.16

-

-

Tropical High Forest (Normal)

4.90 0.30 7.40 0.80

2.49 0.15 3.74 0.41 7.36

Woodlands Bush lands Grasslands Wetlands

14.50 69.00

Subsistence Farmlands Commercial Farmlands

35.05

1.22

0.62

NEMA 2008

Built up areas Open water Impediments

81.50 16.80

41.37

Indiscriminate solid waste disposal in the Nsooba-Lubigi water channel near Kalerwe market

8.55 0.10

0.19

Total

197.00

100.00

Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UNBS) 2008

Table 1: Land use and land cover, Kampala District

Impact of the Changing Environment

The problem has been exacerbated by heavy silt and solid waste carried by run off from construction sites and homesteads, respectively. Government and Kampala City Council in particular, should make efforts to solve the problem of floods in the City. One of the options would be to identify and gazette all critical wetlands and drainage systems that serve to absorb and regulate storm waters. Kampala is served by two major wetland systems namely the Nsooba–Lubigi and Nakivubo Wetland systems. The ongoing process of gazetting Nakivubo wetland system for water attenuation and purification needs to be finalised. A similar process should be undertaken for the Nsooba – Lubigi wetland system to serve as a storm water attenuation area. The long term interventions therefore, would be to resettle people from the flood attenuation areas and safe guard the natural drain pattern of the City. Causes of environment changes in Kampala • Urbanisation • Wetland encroachment • Deforestion This has resulted into increased runoff during the downpours causing frequent flooding that are so rampant in several places in Kampala.

Kampala City natural environment faces continued degradation. The Biomass dynamics show a decline in tree resources. There has been an increasing demand for charcoal, with increasing pressure on neighboring district tree resources. The wetlands also face degradation for industrial and housing developments, agricultural use, as well as pollution from industrial and domestic waste. Recent developments have seen the clearing of the buffer zones of forests and open spaces, as well as encroachment on the wetlands. Buildings and other forms of infrastructure have replaced the forests, open spaces and the wetland vegetation. The impacts of this change have been far reaching. Most of Kampala’s land surface in the built up areas is highly paved leading to reduced water infiltration and hence to generation of high storm waters. The storm water has of late caused flooding in Bwaise and most low-lying areas of Kampala City. In a bid to fight the floods, a lot of drainage channels have been placed and several widened to alleviate the problem. The efforts have hardly solved the problem as the constructed drainage channels have failed to contain the heavy run off leading to continued floods.

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