Buganda Kingdom and the World Wide Fund for Nature Uganda have launched an environment training manual that seeks to bolster conservation works within the Kingdom.
The conservation manual is also translated into Luganda, a language of the biggest ethnic group in central Uganda that’s also spoken in parts across the country.
Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister (Kitikkiro) Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga launched the manual on Thursday, April 27 at the Buganda Kinghdom’s Kyadondo Sub County headquarters in Gombe, Wakiso District.
Kitikkiro Mayiga called for joint efforts in environmental protection to ensure sustainable development countrywide and pledged Buganda would continue to make its contribution.
He said the Buganda Kingdom, where he has been a Prime Minister for over 10 years has over the years been beautiful with waters, forests, and wild animals and said Buganda attaches great importance to environmental protection and firmly committed itself to conserve it.
“The people of Buganda are highly dependent on the Environment and Natural Resources. Our culture associates and attaches taboos to activities that degrade the environment such as overfishing, clear-felling of forests, disrespect for non-wood forest products, and overhunting. The Baganda through their Bika (clans) and respect for emiziro (totems) in effect reduced high consumption thereby enabling their survival and conservation. Symbols of these totems are erected along the Royal Mile from the Palace to Bulange – the seat of Buganda’s Government for the public to appreciate our values. On close scrutiny, these practices are no longer effective in conserving our environment optimally due to population increase, unplanned urbanization, adoption of negative cultures, lack of coherent information, deviant attitudes, unsustainable livelihoods, and low environmental literacy,” Katikiro Mayiga said, noting that the manual is one of Buganda’s attempts to equip stakeholders with environment management knowledge, skills and ‘Bulungibwansi’.
Bulungibwansi means community service and it is one of the Kiganda traditions aimed at encouraging voluntary community involvement in keeping the environment clean.
However, with time, the tradition has been fading away.
“The manual is useful for trainers to integrate environmental and Bulungibwansi solutions for communities in consideration to adopting them. This fits well within the Ministry’s goal of promoting the environment and natural resources management,” Owek. Mayiga said also adding that the Training Manual relates to environmental challenges in Buganda with methodologies and tools raising competence among Buganda Government Institutions, Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, the Private Sector, and communities in the Kingdom of Buganda.
“The Kingdom of Buganda is committed to pursuing a good environment and natural resources through training in collaboration with stakeholders. We strongly hope future publications will address issues that may arise, but at the same time focus on specific prioritized training needs,” the Katikiro pledged, encouraging Kingdom subjects to use the Training Manual and take it as a reliable source of Environment and Natural Resources information in the Kingdom of Buganda.
