"Ugandan private sector asked to back green efforts"

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has asked Uganda’s private sector to effectively participate in the protection of Uganda’s ecosystem because rates of degradation are reaching alarming levels and the government cannot take preventive action by itself. Presenting a paper on the role of the private sector in addressing today’s environment challenges in Kampala during the Corporate Social Responsibility Day, the [Principal] Environment Economist at NEMA Ronald Kagwa said Uganda is losing huge ecosystems...due to rapid economic growth and the increasing population. He said both were exerting pressure on the country’s natural resources

“Balancing the need for rapid economic growth and environmental sustainability is becoming a big challenge, Uganda’s rapid economic growth has been achieved at the expense of her...[n]atural resources...[H]uge chunks of the country’s natural forest have been harvested to meet the demand for timber and charcoal whose demands increase as economic growth expands in the country,” he said.

He said Uganda is losing about 88,000 hectares/year (1.8% per year) due to deforestation thus reducing the country’s forest cover which is estimated to be at only 14% of the total land area...In Uganda, many fish processing plants have been forced to shut down because of the depletion of fish stocks in the major water bodies such as Lakes Victoria and Kyoga thus rendering many Ugandans unemployed. [refers to Nile Breweries, Centenary Bank, Airtel Uganda & Standard Chartered Bank]