A fairly large part of Uganda is covered by wetlands. These include grass swamps, seasonal flood plains, mountain bogs and swamp forests. Theses have always been an importance source of water and food for the population. Wetlands provide Ugandans with water alongside foods like fish, rice, coco yams and so many other types of food suitable for growth in wetlands. As a result of the various wetlands in the country Uganda has had very minimal water shortages over the years.

However the quality of wetlands in Uganda is getting progressively worse every single day especially in the urban centers. Swamps have increasingly become dumping sites for industries disposing off their toxic solid and liquid waste. Settlement is another major cause for the degradation of wetlands especially in the capital Kampala and other major towns like Jinja and Mbale. Due to high rural urban migration which created a bid population density in urban centers, lots of people end up constructing structures in wetlands. In rural areas, agriculture is the biggest distractor of wetlands. Farmers drain wetlands to create land for planting different crops especially cash crops like sugar cane.

This degradation of wetlands has come with very serious life threatening consequences for the populations. This month alone, Kampala has experienced strong flooding. This has become a common site every rainy season since Kampala?s wetlands that sipped excess water after strong rains have almost entire been drained. These floods which have claimed human life and destroyed lots of property are slowly becoming part of Uganda?s urban culture.

The degradation of wetlands together with other practices has significantly led to the changes in rainfall patterns in the country and this has in turn highly affected our agricultural based economy.

Uganda?s are also suffering from unhealthy living conditions especially since many rely of water from wetlands which are now absorbing toxic waste from manufacturing industries

All hope is not lost though. In spite of weak legislation, several individuals, student movements, institutions and organizations are taking wetland protection into consideration. Several Student movement in conjunction with communities and multiple stake holders are teaching people how to use wetlands with destroying them. Advocacy at different levels is taking root to stop manufacturing industries from dumping waste in swamps.

As much as the state of wetlands in Uganda today is worrying, there is also a lot of hope due to the continuous efforts by environmentalist to improve the situation