Funding gaps undermine Uganda’s conservation efforts, researchers warn
Environmental researchers in Uganda warn that insufficient funding and limited enforcement capacity are hindering the protection of the country's forests and wetlands. Despite established national development frameworks, agencies lack the necessary personnel and equipment to prevent significant habitat loss.
Why it matters
Uganda has lost nearly half of its forest cover since 1990, highlighting a critical gap between environmental policy and on-the-ground conservation efficacy.
Environmental researchers have called for increased investment in conservation, warning that inadequate funding and limited enforcement capacity are undermining efforts to protect Uganda’s wetlands, forests and other natural resources.
Joseph Obua, a senior lecturer at Makerere University, said Uganda had established policies and development frameworks to guide environmental protection, but implementation remained constrained by shortages of funding, personnel and equipment.
“We have our Vision 2040. If you dig deep into it, it has some issues to do with the environment, natural resources that encapsulates conservation. We have our National Development Plan, (NDPIV), it has natural resources and conservation issues. These frameworks are there to help us to see where we have come from, where we are now and where we are going,” Prof Obua said.
He said ministries, departments and agencies responsible for enforcing environmental policies lacked adequate resources to carry out their work.
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