The Uganda Atlas

NEMA 2005

A vibrant papyrus wetland in Gaba, Kampala District (2005)

U ganda has extensive wetland coverage, although the information about the exact size and distribution is yet to be established. Current estimates put the total area of wetlands at about 33,000 Km 2 covering about 13% of the country’s total area. The wide coverage of wetlands in the country is influenced by a number of physical factors, especially the incidence of high rainfall and the nature of the

landscape dominated by flat low land surfaces and, depressions which arose from past geological episodes leading to leveling of the African surface and later the teriary period tectonic activities associated with warping. There is extensive occurrence of wetlands around most of Uganda’s lakes and along most of the rivers especially the drowned river valleys that were affected by warping.

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