Mountain Partnership

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Uganda

Mountains comprise about seven percent of the total land area of Uganda – in the form of mountain peaks and their surrounding highlands. Although mountains constitute a relatively small proportion of the country’s territory they are nevertheless very significant in terms of their fragility and sensitivity to human interference, the vital functions of their ecosystems and their socio-cultural and spiritual significance.

The Birunga Mountains lie to the south-west and their highest peak, Mount Muhavura rises to 4,130 m. These mountains comprise a chain of steep cone-shaped volcanoes that extend into Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To the west are the Rwenzori Mountains (often referred to as ‘the mountains of the moon’) rising to 5,111m – snow-capped despite their proximity to the equator. Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano is located to the east, (4,323 m) and Mount Moroto (3,084 m) stands a little further north.

These mountains and highlands contain a wide range of ecosystems, with vegetation that varies from tropical forest at the lower altitudes, to temperate grasslands, mountain bogs and the afro-alpine vegetation species at the highest summits of mountains.

Howevern due to rapid population growth and the favourable climate in these areas, the fragile resources in the mountains are in danger of severe degradation. The search for the most effective and sustainable management of these mountains continues. Development initiatives and investments in these areas are expensive and risky due to the difficult environment, and especially the difficulty of the terrain. Mountain people are poor and communities under-developed, and where land is not properly protected from degradation, serious problems arise: soil erosion, landslides and then flooding of the lowlands. In recent years these problems have resulted in severe loss of life and property in the Mount Elgon area in particular.

Uganda has very broad sustainable mountain development concerns, including access to education, biodiversity conservation, capacity-building, food security, hazards and risks, watershed management, and the promotion of mountain products and mountain tourism.

The Government of Uganda has been committed to the conservation of mountain ecosystems and implementation of development projects for well over a decade. The Government has continued to take a lead in guiding people towards conservation and sustainable resource utilization, especially through the formulation of policies and laws to regulate the use of land and resources. A major challenge to the fulfilment of these objectives is the inadequate knowledge and appreciation of the values and sensitivities of mountain ecosystems by mountain communities and those outside who are the beneficiaries or stakeholders in one form or another. In addition these areas are very poor and lack the resources and time to invest in conservation and sustainable development. The Government needs to increase investment in infrastructure and the provision of resources in order for these communities to respond to the challenge of sustainable mountain development.

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