Africa-Press – Uganda. CLIMATE CHANGE |As part of measures to restore the ecosystem, the Government plans to distribute 25 million tree seedlings in the 2021/2022 financial year.The plan is contained in the Budget Framework Paper (draft budget) for the 2021/2022 financial year, which the finance ministry presented to Parliament last week.The plan for ensuring 25 million trees are planted will be undertaken using the District Forest Support Services countrywide.To strengthen the country’s early warning mechanism on weather changes, the Government also plans to procure, install and adequately equip 50 automatic meteorological stations, refurbish and modernise dilapidated weather stations and construct three radar operational centres.The Government will support the development of by-laws and ordinances at local government level that protect the environment.As way of protecting wetlands, the Government plans to demarcate, gazette, and restore 300km of wetlands. This will include the demarcation of boundaries of swamps under National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). The Government also intends to promote green budgeting as a means of focusing public will include the demarcation of boundaries of swamps under National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). The Government also intends to promote green budgeting as a means of focusing public director, Tom Okello, said: “It is easy for us to achieve this target. Our earlier plan was actually planting 40 million trees every year for the next five years, but because of financial constraints, the target has been revised.”Okello said the Government would be putting more focus on sensitising citizens on the importance of tree planting, availing tree seedlings, and discouraging the cutting of trees.The Opposition chief whip, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, said: “When I was chairperson of COSASE, NFA presented a report of 2016 in which they indicated Uganda loses 9,000 hectares of forest cover every year and can only replant 3,000 hectares. The major solution, therefore, lies in undertaking efforts to stop the cutting of trees.”Ssemujju said sometime back, he went to Amuru in northern Uganda and was taken aback by the rate at which people were cutting trees for charcoal.Florence Namayanja, the shadow minister for environment, said: “There are always many things put in the budget which are never implemented. Until they have this implemented, I am hesitant to believe them.”
