European Union Funded Action
The European Commission is supporting the government of Uganda to “Respond to Increased Environmental and Natural Resources Degradation in the Refugee Hosting Districts of Uganda” (RED) by addressing the impacts of displaced populations on the environment, natural resources, and the livelihoods of the hosting communities. Through the European Union Delegation to Uganda, the Commission is funding the project “Restoring and Conserving degraded and fragile ecosystems for improved livelihoods among the refugee and host communities of the West Nile Region and the Mid-Albertine Rift” to improve livelihoods and ecosystems’ resilience to impacts of refugees and climate change in refugee hosting landscapes.
Uganda Biodiversity Trust Fund (UBF) partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Nature Uganda (NU), and Ecological Christian Organization (ECO) to implement the project in the districts of Terego and Yumbe in the West Nile Region; and Kikuube, Kyegegwa, and Kamwenge in the Mid Albertine Rift. These cover the refugee settlement areas of Bidibidi, Invepi, Rhino Camp, Kyangwali, Rwamwanja, and Kyaka II.
The four-year European Union Action is targeting to restore 353 Hectares (Ha) of selected central Forest Reserves, 400 Ha of degraded wetlands and riverine, and 1,744 Ha of savannah woodlands. Additionally, the project is supporting individual households and communities within and outside the refugee settlements, to establish 490 Ha of woodlots for woodland restoration and for meeting household-level needs such as fuel wood and poles. In a bid to build resilience and sustain agricultural productivity, the project is targeting to demonstrate and scale-up Sustainable Land Management (SLM), Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), and Agroforestry practices in 5,000 Ha of farmlands.
Achievement of the project set goals will make significant contributions to both National and global commitments including the government of Uganda’s commitment to domestication and implementation of the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs). At the National level, the project contributes to the achievements of NDP III targets and the Ministry of Eater and Environment Sector Response Plan for Refugees. Implementation is through collaboration with Central and Local Government agencies responsible for the management of forests, wetlands, riverbanks, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the private sector, and local communities.
