District HIV/AIDS Epidemic:
HIV/AIDS has been and is still a very
serious Health challenge in the district. Data from the District Health
information system puts the prevalence rate at 11.3% in the general population
and 14% among pregnant women in the district, making it the 4th
commonest cause of Morbidity and mortality in the District. The Social impact
of HIV/AIDS can be appreciated by the increasing number of orphans and Child
headed Homes in the District, Increased school dropout rates among others.
The epidemic has also had gross economic
implications ranging from loss of human labour, reduced productivity and
absenteeism from work due to ill health leading to low productivity by the
sectors,.
HIV/AIDS has also contributed to increased
school drop out of children to look after their sick parents; loss of parents
often leads to failure to continue with education. The health care delivery
system has been constrained in terms infrastructure, human and financial
resources as the department takes lead in care and treatment of those with
HIV/AIDS disease.
Response to the HIV/aids epidemic
in Kabarole
With the support of ministry of health,
UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Baylor and other partners, The district will
continue implementing a comprehensive HIV/AIDS package through ;
·
Promoting
of safe sex practices (through change of individual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour),
and condom promotion, voluntary HIV counselling and testing (HCT), Prevention
of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and strengthening of STD control
services. Include safe male medical
circumcision
·
Promoting
Paediatric HIV/AIDS care and ART programmes
·
Improvement
in the care for HIV infected patients by managing HIV opportunistic infections
in health facilities and through home based care.
·
Self-help
projects in supporting widows and orphans through orphan education and income
generating activities.
·
Strengthen
prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) in MCH
·
Operational
research and HIV sentinel surveillance.
Since 2000, the district adopted the multi
sectoral approach to control HIV/AIDS as stated in the national strategic frame
work (NSF) for HIV/AIDS 2000/01-2005/06 and 2007/2012. The NSF was also
developed to provide strategic direction to HIV AIDS response at national,
district and community level. The NSF addresses the need for a multi sectoral
approach to involving various sectors and community initiatives to prevent HIV
and mitigate its impact on communities. The multi-sectoral response to HIV
control has been supported by various development partners such as the Uganda
Global fund to fight malaria, HIV and TB (GFATM), UNICEF and the Uganda HIV
AIDS technical committee known as District HIV/AIDS committee (DHAC). The NSF
addresses HIV activities in the areas of HIV prevention, mitigation of the
effects of HIV on those infected and affected such as orphans and widows,
capacity building, monitoring and evaluation.
Achievements
in HIV/Aids control
·
Reduction
of the HIV prevalence in ANC sites offering PMTCT from 20%in 2002 to 16% in
2008
·
Private-public
partnership strengthened, over 15 development partners are implementing
activities in the area of behavior change communication (BCC).
·
Access
to medical care by people living with HIV AIDS and orphans is 87 % (HIMS
records 2007/ 2008)
·
Introduction
of ART programme in all 03 district hospitals and 02 HCIV level and 18 HCIII.
·
Formation
of the district HIV/AIDS committee (DAC) that co-ordinates all HIV activities
in the district.
·
The
VCT and PMTCT programme scaled up to 18 HCIII
Challenges
in HIV/Aids control
·
Low
level funding to sustain on going HIV/ AIDS programme activities. The local
revenue is too low to fully support HIV AIDS activities
·
Poor
indicators in the area of prevention, care and support for PHAs and orphans
(LQAS findings 2005) this attributed to low funding that limits access to care
and support services and low rate of behavior change for HIV/AIDS prevention
among sexually active populations.
·
High
cost of CD4 counts and viral load.
·
Inadequate
supply of ARVs and HIV testing kits
·
Inadequate
extension workers to deliver messages at community level
·
Increase
of transactional sex work in urban centres
·
Low
coverage of care and treatment services. ART services are provided only up to
HC III level. Only 2 CBOS are providing home based psycho social services.
·
Under
staffing of the health sector despite the increasing demand for care and
treatment services.
·
Limited
capacity to mainstream HIV/AIDS into all sector programmes and activities. Only
the health, education and CBS sectors have fully integrated HIV /AIDS
activities in their work plans.
·
Lack
of funds to produce locally appropriate IEC materials
Way Forward
·
Strengthening
HIV prevention through behaviour change communication and life planning skills
building targeting adults, young people, district civil servants and high risk
groups like Commercial Sex Workers, fishermen, barmaids and boda boda cyclists.
·
Scaling
up ART services to health centre II level
·
Intensify
mobilization of resources to finance the district response to HIV/AIDS
·
To
establish a monitoring/supervision and evaluation system for HIV/ AIDS control
activities in the district. Strengthen
the procurement of essential supplies like testing kits.
·
Strengthen
capacity for mainstreaming of HIV AIDS in all sectors in Kabarole through
development and funding the sector HIV AIDS work plans.
·
Recruit
Health Workers and Health Assistants for HC IIs & Parishes respectively
NATURAL
RESOURCES
Natural
Resources Department comprises of Environment,
Wetlands, Physical Planning, Forestry, Land Management, Valuation, Surveying
and Registration sections
Goal
of the department
To improve the quality of life of the
people of Kabarole District through promotion of efficient and sustainable use
of its natural resources.
Mission of
the department
To promote sustainable use of Natural
Resources for economic, social and cultural activities.
Environment and Forestry sections.
Mission
To conserve the environment and ensure
active involvement and participation of all the stakeholders.
Goal
To improve the quality of life of the
people of Kabarole District through promotion of efficient and sustainable use
of its environment and forest resources.
Situational Analysis
Good Environmental management is a key
component of sustainable development; if natural resources are well managed
then they can be used by the present and future generations. Environment is
mainly described by the state of atmospheric resources, water resources and
wetlands, biodiversity and ecosystem health, land resources, fisheries
resources, human settlement and infrastructure and energy resources. These resources play a pivotal role in the
realization of sustainable development.
The environment sector contributes to the productivity of other sectors
especially agriculture, industry and fisheries by providing natural assets from
a sustainable natural resource base. It
also reduces the public cost of providing particular services. For example, at national level in 1998, the
environment sector was estimated to have contributed 54.4 per cent of total
GDP.
Kabarole District has favourable climate
with bimodal rainfall (February – May/August and December with 1200 mm – 1500
mm of rainfall per annum.
Geological divisions show that 90% of the
district is covered with black loams (volcanic) while a few places especially
in Busoro and parts of Hakibale sub counties have red sandy clay loams
occasionally underlain by soft laterites.
The district has various freshwater sources
like crater lakes, rivers and streams. These form the biggest category of
freshwater in the District covering 7,730,000m2. Most rivers such
Mpanga, Mahoma, Igasa and Rwimi which provide irrigation potential have their
sources in Rwenzori Mountains, , four 4
gravity flow schemes have their water sources in the same mountains. There are
over 200 wetland resources with most valleys are either waterlogged streams or
swamps. Wetlands in the district lie approximately at an altitude of between
5300 feet and 300 feet above sea level, with those at the highest altitude are
in areas of Bunyangabu County.
The
district has six gazetted forests of which three are Central Forest Reserves
(CFR) managed by Uganda National Forest Authority and three Local Forest
Reserves (LFR) managed by Kabarole District Local Government. The three local
forest Reserves are highly depleted. Kibale National Park and Mt. Rwenzori
National Park under the management of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), which
cover 795 km2 and 996 km2 respectively also add up on the
forest cover in the district. Mt. Rwenzori National Park is designated as a
World Heritage site whose conservation is not only of national and regional
importance but also of great international importance.
The CFR are Itwara, categorized as a tropical
high forest with 2100 Hectares, Fort portal, categorized as Eucalyptus
plantation with 65 Hectares, and Kisangi categorized as Savanna woodland
covering 1288 hectares. The LFR are all Eucalyptus plantations, with Butebe
covering 8, Nyakinoni 5 and Nyakigumba 10 hectares respectively. Large scale
tea plantations have also established their own eucalyptus plantations.
The
district is endowed with rich biodiversity in terms of species richness and
abundance, a habitat to several endemic, endangered, threatened and rare
species of the Albertine rift and also an important bird area especially within
the protected areas in the district. It is a home of the richest forest in Uganda (Kibaale) in
terms of the number of plant species including over three hundred fifty (350) forest tree species, about sixty (60)
species of fauna including thirteen primates and over three hundred fifty (350) avifauna
species.
There is a range of biodiversity based
products and services in the District and these include Natural Ingredients for
Food, Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals (NIFCP), Ornamental plants (wild flowers
and foliage), Fisheries, Handicrafts and furniture among others.
However, there has been rapid deterioration
of the quantity and quality of environment and natural resources as a result of
increased pressure from high population and economic activities. The main challenges include habitat
conversion, Wetland degradation, Degradation of river banks, Deforestation,
Poor disposal of solid wastes, Soil erosion, Problem animals, pollution,
proliferation of invasive species and handling emerging environmental issues
such as e-waste, the impact of oil and gas which have been discovered in the
region.
Habitat loss has affected most ecosystems
such as forests, wetlands, rangelands and catchments and resulted into the loss
of biodiversity especially on privately owned land. Land degradation through soil erosion and
loss of soil fertility and productivity have a negative impact on Sustainable
Land Management (SLM).
Degradation of wetland Despite regulations
and policies at national and district level; wetlands are continuously being
degraded in the District through various ways. The major challenge is the
continued encroachment and destruction of wetlands due to a growing population
looking for more agricultural land, drainage and refilling for construction of
buildings and clay, soil and sand evacuation for construction materials
especially bricks, and pollution by pit latrines and mushrooming car washing
bays especially in Fort Portal Municipality. The rate of degradation worsens
during the dry spells where people look for wetter and cooler areas for their
crops.
Degradation of river banks through planting
of eucalyptus trees along banks of major rivers such, numerous car washing
bays, stone and sand mining especially along river mpanga and river Igasa. This
is coupled with impurities or other materials being dropped and polluting the
water. This has serious threats since most people in the district use water
directly from the rivers.
Deforestation, Pit sawing and cutting down
of trees for construction and fire wood make the largest form of deforestation
in the district. Forestation and reforestation are practiced at a negligible
scale. Although the problem is not yet severe, it is increasing at a very fast
rate especially on the planted forests.
The poor disposal of solid and liquid waste
from industries and human settlements, among others, has put the health and
livelihood of thousands of inhabitants at risk.
There is no clear waste disposal management and this continues to pose a
threat to the environment and the population. There are no gazetted areas for
solid waste disposal in most towns. The waste profile in the district is
increasingly becoming complex with new additions of electronic waste,
radioactive waste, plastics and polythene materials and medical waste to the
traditional organic wastes. Noise
pollution is becoming a challenge especially in Fort portal municipality, Rwimi
and Hakibaale town councils.
Invasive alien species such as lantana camara have brought about
changes that are harmful to ecosystems, biodiversity, health, economic or other
aspects of human life. They reproduce,
and spread in their environments, dominating vegetation and displacing native
species.
Problem animals have continued to be a
problem in some parts of the district especially those adjacent to the
protected areas. This has led to reduced crop harvests in the affected sub
counties hence increased poverty.
Synthetic chemicals (petroleum products,
agricultural chemicals, cosmetics, drugs, chemicals embedded in electronic
gadgets, among others) which are increasingly used in the district every year,
can be detrimental to environment if not properly managed.
The discovery of oil and gas in the region
(Albertine Graben) poses serious environmental challenges. The Albertine Graben is the most species rich
eco-region for vertebrates in Africa and contains 39 per cent of Africa’s
mammal species, 51 per cent of its bird species, 19 per cent of its amphibian
species and 14 per cent of its plant and reptile species.
Government has put in place elaborate
environmental laws, regulations and standards to guide the management of
environmental resources. However, the
level of compliance to these environmental laws, regulations and standards is
still very low, leading to misuse and degradation of the environment.
A number of CSOs in the district have
become more vigilant with regard to issues of environment and rural
development. In particular, their roles
have included: environmental advocacy, mobilization of resources, capacity
building for LECs. More participation by
CSOs, especially the media and CBOs, is expected to generate demand for
accountability from environment management institutions.
Kabarole district has experienced a number
of Natural disasters in the recent past, including landslides experienced by
people who live on Rwenzori Mountains especially during the rainy season.
The district is prone to earthquakes which
have done a lot of damage to lives and property in Kabarole District in the
past. It is it is important for the
district to have a plan to prepare for this kind of disaster and seek the
expertise of Seismologists and Engineers in planning for the future occurrences
of earthquakes in order for timely preparations for them.
Environmental management cuts across all
departments in the district and requires the participation of various actors
(Table 2). The environmental
mainstreaming measures in the district are very weak mainly due to funding.
Constraints
to the Performance of the Environmental Section
·
Inadequate
appreciation of the contribution of environmental management to economic
development and as a crosscutting issue.
·
Lack
of transport to conduct field activities.
·
Lack
of funding for sensitizing the public about tree planting, environment
management, monitoring and enforcement of appropriate laws / regulations and
formulation of management plans for major fragile ecosystems which would guide
their proper management.
·
Limited
practical knowledge of environmental laws within law enforcement agencies to
handle environmental offences effectively.
·
Poor
compliance with environmental laws and tree harvesting regulations
·
Insufficient
relevant information in a timely manner and in formats that can readily be used
by planners and decision makers.
·
Inadequate
institutional capacity in the district environment sector.
·
Limited
networking, collaboration and coordination among the national and international
communities on information sharing and financial leverage.
Objectives,
strategies and Interventions
Objective: Restore degraded ecosystems
(wetlands, forests, range lands and catchments) to appropriate levels.
Ø Strategy
1: Restore the forest cover to 1990 levels.
Intervention
description
·
Support
re-forestation and forestation on both public and private land.
·
Promote
participation of the population in tree planting through in tree planting
through tree planting campaigns and provision of subsidized tree
seedlings. Civil society organizations and
the private sector will be mobilized to support this initiative.
·
Enhance
private investment in forestry through promotion of commercial tree planting on
private land, agro-forestry and the use of trees to demarcate boundaries of
land holdings.
Ø Strategy
2: Restore the wetlands, rangelands and monitor restoration of all ecosystems.
Intervention Description
·
Gazette
all major wetlands in the district to increase acreage.
·
Implement
catchments-based management systems to restore the rangelands and catchments.
·
Monitor
and inspect restoration of ecosystems, (forests, wetlands, catchments).
Ø Strategy
3: Support environmental improvement initiatives.
Intervention Description
·
Support
sustainable provision of ecosystem services through restoration of fragile ecosystems
(river banks, lakeshores, hilly and mountainous areas, and wetlands).
·
Promote
tree planting in public institutions (District and sub county Local Government
headquarters, colleges, universities, prisons, police and road reserves among
others).
Objective
2 – Ensure sustainable management of environmental resources and minimize
degradation.
Ø Strategy
1: Integrate environmental concerns in all development initiatives in the
district.
Intervention Description
·
Mainstream
environmental concerns in all policies and plans.
·
Review
and update sectoral specific guidelines, policies, plans, programmes and legal
frameworks for mainstreaming environment in the district.
Ø Strategy
2: Strengthen the policy, legal and institutional framework to support environmental
management.
Intervention Description
·
Strengthen
the institutional capacity of Kabarole District Local government to enable them
execute their roles effectively. In this
regard, staffing and skills development in the environment sector, re-tooling
and equipping the sector and research and development will be priority.
Ø Strategy
3: Development regional (inter-district) and national, partnerships and net-
Works to enhance inter-district
environmental management.
Intervention Description
·
Strengthen institutional capacity for inter-district
management of the
environment.
Ensure effective monitoring.
·
Establish
regional partnerships for monitoring environmental and spill over effects.
·
Ensure
the domestication and implementation of international and regional protocols
concerning environment.
Ø Strategy
4: Enhance institutional collaboration between key actors for example UNBS, URA
and NEMA to assist in regulating counterfeits and other non- Environmental
friendly products.
Intervention Description
·
Effect
institutional mechanisms and measures put in place to prevent environmentally un-friendly products from
circulating into the community.
Ø Strategy
5: Increase public awareness and
environmental education.
Intervention Description
·
Develop
and implement awareness programmes on the contribution of a healthy environment
to local and national development.
·
Increase
public awareness through media, talk shows among others.
·
Strengthen
environmental education in the education in schools.
·
Support
implementation of innovative and environmentally friendly initiatives that
include; energy efficient technologies, environmentally sound waste management
practices, innovative community based environmental management schemes, cleaner
and production practices
Ø Strategy
6: Promote compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
Intervention Description
·
Strengthen
mechanisms for screening public interventions and enforcing for environmental standards, regulations and
guidelines.
·
Enforce
environmental impact assessment compliance through monitoring implementation of
mitigation measures.
·
Enforce
compliance with regulations through carrying out inspections and audits for
compliance.
·
Advocate
and support training of lower local governments, law enforcement agencies in
environment related aspects.
Ø Strategy
7: Increase and enhance access to
environmental information for investment
and environmental management.
Intervention Description
·
Establish
and maintain a functional environment database in the district.
·
Institute
mechanisms for collecting, analyzing and disseminating environmental data and
information of The District State Environment Reports (DSOER).
Objective
3: Identify and address emerging
environmental issues and opportunities in the District.
Ø Strategy
1: Improve electronic and other hazardous waste management in the district.
Intervention Description
·
Implement
policy on e-waste management and other hazardous wastes.
·
Implement
a national action plan, guidelines, regulations and standards for management of
e-waste.
·
Establish
e-waste District collection centres.
Ø Strategy
2: Sustainable management of Oil and Gas
resources.
Intervention Description
·
Build capacity in managing oil related
environmental challenges.
·
Compile environmental database for the
district.
Ø Strategy
3: Improve the management of chemicals.
Intervention Description
·
Build
District capacity for sound chemicals management.
·
Review
and integrate sound chemicals management in district policies and plans.
·
Implement
identified priority areas in national profile for chemical management.
Land
Management and Administration Unit
Situational
Analysis
Kabarole is located in the western part of
Uganda, some 320 km south of kampala and it borders the districts of
bundibugyo, ntoroko, kasese, kamwenge and kyenjojo in the east. The district
covers a total surface area of approximately 1,814.25q. km of which
approximately 18.2% is water and 81.7% is land. A total of approximately 42% of
the available land is arable.
The Land Act 1998 recognizes the multiple
land tenure systems of mailo, freehold, leasehold and customary tenures. A
great part of the land in Kabarole is held under customary tenure rights are
usually subject to restrictions such as transfer outside the family and clan.
The succession follows native rules and certain family, clan or communal rights
that have got to be respected. Customary land can as well be converted to
freehold. Freehold land was given as a grant to the citizens of Uganda and
existing Institutions by the colonial masters before independence in 1962.
Since independence leasehold has been granted from public land vested in the
Government which was represented by the Uganda Land Commission, until the
promulgation of the new Constitution in 1995. Since then, this role has been
taken over by the District Land Boards of which Kabarole has got one. Mailo is
in principle, a feudal land tenure system originating from an agreement between
the King and the British Government in 1900, though it is today treated more or
less as freehold land tenure.
The ambiguity of the different systems of
land ownership complicate access to land especially for those that want to use
it as a factor of production. The majority o fhte land owners in rural areas
have focused more on land as their fundamental source of livelihood. They have
continued to practice primitive and peasantry methods of production utilizing
very small proportions of their land holdings.
The majority of land owners do not have
land titles as guarantee for security of tenure. The problem of accessing land
titles is compounded by bureaucracy since most land services are carried out at
Entebbe and Kampala including issuing instructions to survey, approving
physical plans, issuing land titles and paying stamp duty, manual operations, fraud
by land agents, low level of funding to the sector, legal and regulatory
constraints, attitude, culture, squatters, historical issues, shortage of
relevant skills such as land surveying, valuation and many other related
problems.
The Land Act, 1998, also provides for
female inheritance rights over land, and requirements for spousal consent in
all matters relating to land from which a family derives subsistence. However,
customary practice favours male inheritance of land so that women’s lnd rights
tend to be limited access while men enjoy ownership rights. Women’s minimal
land ownership means they have limited decision making power over land use. The
situation is made worse given the fact that 70% of women are employed in
Agriculture and yet only 20% own registered land. It has been established that
there is there is an increase in women’s accessibility to land by 5% which
would increase agriculture production by 0.3% every year.
The supply for land is fixed but District’s
population continues to grow at a very high rate of 3.2% per annum. The
population growth would eventually cause a challenge to land distribution.
The rapidly growing population puts
pressure on land resources and has therefore created serious socio-economic
problems, including land fragmentation, increasing land disputes, loss of
forest cover and environmental degradation, poor agriculture yields,
constraints in physical planning among others.
The number of rural growth centres in sub
counties and town councils has increased since 2008 which has created a need
for surveying and physical planning these towns.
The discovery of oil in the Albertine
region and the proposed construction of major roads regional works have led to
increased land transactions in the District because of its appealing
geographical location, but this have also resulted into increased land
fraudsters inform of land agents resulting into land disputes.
Constraints
to the performance of Land Management
·
The
absence of the National Land Policy to guide review of the existing laws on
land administration and management by the Ministry of Lands. For instance
although the Land Act 1998 as amended in 2009, provides for basic tenets of a
land policy, several provisions do not conform t sections of other laws.
·
Labour
turn over in the sector and inadequate supply of skilled and experienced
professionals including land surveyors and Valuers.
·
Inadequate
capacity of the existing institutions of land management and administration at
National and Local Government levels (new Local Governments). The
decentralization system has created different centers of power in land
administration. These centers lack capacity to deliver services to the
population effectively. The coordination mechanism has been severely affected b
lack of standards and a central line of command and control at the National
level. Poor enforcement of land use regulations remains a challenge.
·
Obsolete
equipment for survey, mapping, physical planning, land registration an d
information management.
·
The
low levels of awareness on land issues, rights and obligations making some
section of the population vulnerable.
·
Outdated
information on land including cadastral maps, topographical maps have never
been updated since the 1960’s to guide physical planning of urban centers/towns.
·
Bureaucratic
red tape in accessing land titles breeds corruption, delays and high
transaction costs.
·
The
existing land law vests land ownership in the citizens. In order to acquire any
land for public use such as roads, open spaces, industrial parks, there has to
be adequate compensation of the land yet a number of local governments do not
have adequate resources for this purpose. This affects the effectiveness of the
local authorities in service delivery.
·
The
existence of multiple rights on land also affects access to land by the would
be potential developers.
Land Administration Objectives
Objective
1: Create an inclusive and pro-poor policy and legal framework
Ø Strategy
1: Formulate a District
Local Government Policy in line with the National policy and legal
framework
Ø Strategy
2:Disseminate and
implement land management policies
Ø Strategy
3:Improve on the Land
management funding
Objective 2 To facilitate proper land
administration and management, its utilization and developments
Ø Strategy
1: Processing land lease
offers/extensions, record keeping and updation of leased land records
Ø Strategy
2:Determining compensation
rates for landed property in the District
Objective
3: To provide security of land ownership
and holdings/interests
Ø Strategy
1:Demarcating and
surveying land for the District Local Government
Ø Strategy
2:Processing land titles
for the District Local Government and the public
Ø Strategy
3Attend to land disputes
for possible solution
Objective
4: To ensure adherence to National
Survey Regulations and Standards and to uniquely identify parcels of land
Ø Strategy
1: Issuing surveying
instructions and carrying out field survey computation checks
Ø Strategy
2: Plotting checked and
computed cadastral surveys
Ø Strategy
3: Approving plotted
surveys or issue of deed plans for titling
Objective
5: To ensure planned development of all Urban/Trading Centres and markets in
the District
Ø Strategy
1:Preparing physical
planning lay-outs for town councils and rural growth centers
Ø Strategy
2:Monitoring and inspecting
new building sites to ensure conformity with building rules and health
regulations
Ø Strategy
3:Producing site plans for
urban developments
Objective
6: Facilitate Registration and transfer of interests in land
Ø Strategy
1:Issuing land titles
Objective
7: Develop the requisite infrastructure for effective and efficient delivery of
land services
Ø Strategy
1: Complete the
construction of the lands offices and updating geodetic data
Objective
8: Increase the level of awareness on land issues
Ø Strategy
1: Crate awareness on land
issues
Physical
planning
Situational
Analysis
Kabarole has got 8 gazetted towns one of
which is a municipality, 6 town councils and 1 town board. A few of these towns
have managed to transform the bulk of their structural plans into implement
able detailed physical development plans. Otherwise the District continues to
experience urbanization which is challenging physical planning.
Efforts have been made to try and manage
the urban development by gazetting of various towns into town councils and town
boards, coming up with structural and detailed plans, minimizing developments
without approved plans through inspections and enforcements. However, there is
inadequate of financial resources to oversee, monitor and devaluate the implementation
of plans resulting into haphazard developments.
Constraints
·
Inconsistent
laws like the Town and Country Planning Act, 1964, the Local Government Act
1997, the Land Act 1998 and the National Planning Authority Act, 2002.
·
Inadequate
financial resources
·
Negative
attitudes, perceptions and lack of good will by developers
·
Lack
of update information like topographic maps and land tenure maps
·
Lack
of national physical planning standards, guidelines and regulations
Objective
1: Increase the level of compliance to physical development plans by both
private investors and government projects such as roads, dams, water supply
schemes, irrigation schemes, housing, education, health among others.
Ø Strategy
1: Implement the physical
plans and the law
Intervention
·
Carry
out regular supervision, monitoring and inspection to ensure compliance with
physical plans
DISTRICT OPPORTUNITIES
Tourism Potential
Mountain Rwenzori
The district has over 55 crater lakes. Together
with meandering rivers and streams, they form some of the best sceneries in the
world. These form the biggest category of freshwater in the District covering
7,730,000m2. Rivers like Mpanga, Mahoma, Igasa and Rwimi also provide
irrigation potential and have their sources in
Rwenzori Mountains.
There are over 200 wetland resources with
most valleys are either waterlogged streams or swamps. Wetlands in the district
lie approximately at an altitude of between 5300 feet and 300 feet above sea
level, with those at the highest altitude are in areas of Bunyangabu County. Together
with the forests, these are a home of diverse bird and insect species, the
rarest found in the world. The district is thus endowed with rich biodiversity
in terms of species richness and abundance, a habitat to several endemic, endangered,
threatened and rare species of the Albertine rift and also an important bird
area especially within the protected areas in the district.
The
district has six gazetted forests of which three are Central Forest Reserves
(CFR) managed by Uganda National Forest Authority and three Local Forest
Reserves (LFR) managed by Kabarole District Local Government. Kibale National
Park and Mt. Rwenzori National Park under the management of Uganda Wildlife
Authority (UWA), which cover 795 km2 and 996 km2 respectively
also add up on the forest cover in the district.
Mt.
Rwenzori National Park is designated as a World Heritage site whose
conservation is not only of national and regional importance but also of great
international importance.
The LFR are Itwara, categorized as a
tropical high forest with 2100 Hectares, Fort portal, categorized as Eucalyptus
plantation with 65 Hectares, and Kisangi categorized as Savannah woodland
covering 1288 hectares. The LFR are all Eucalyptus plantations, with Butebe
covering 8, Nyakinoni 5 and Nyakigumba 10 hectares respectively. Large scale
tea plantations have also established their own eucalyptus plantations.
Kabarole
is partial home of the richest forest in Uganda (Kibaale) in
terms of the number of plant species including over three hundred fifty (350) forest tree species, about sixty (60)
species of fauna including thirteen primates and over three hundred fifty (350) avifauna
species.
Economic
potential from Natural Resources
There is a range of biodiversity based products
and services in the District and these include Natural Ingredients for Food,
Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals (NIFCP), Ornamental plants (wild flowers and
foliage), Fisheries, Handicrafts and furniture among others.
