UCOBAC Steps Up Efforts to Sensitize Public on Climate Change Impacts

30 April 2026, 6:08 pm

by Otim moses

The Uganda Community-Based Association for Women and Children Affairs (UCOBAC) has intensified efforts to sensitize the public on climate change, its impacts, and measures communities can take to protect the environment.

Mr. Opio Silvanous, an official with UCOBAC in Lamwo District, said climate change has reached alarming levels, now evident through frequent floods, prolonged droughts, unpredictable rainfall, and drying water sources.

He explained that many human activities are accelerating climate change. These include deforestation, poor farming practices such as clearing trees for cultivation and farming along riverbanks, overgrazing, wetland encroachment, bush burning, and the excessive use of harmful chemicals. He noted that these activities not only degrade the land but also increase carbon dioxide emissions.

Mr. Opio added that the consequences are already affecting communities through floods, disease outbreaks, and landslides.

He appealed to the public to stop activities that destroy forests and instead embrace environmental conservation measures such as tree planting, protecting natural forests, practicing agroforestry, and maintaining manageable livestock numbers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nokrac Clement, an extension worker with Lamwo District Local Government overseeing Palabek Gem, Palabek Abera, and Padibe Town Council, emphasized that both human and natural factors have significantly contributed to environmental degradation and climate change.

He advised farmers to reduce deforestation by planting more trees to absorb carbon dioxide and regulate temperatures. He also encouraged agroforestry, selective pruning, intercropping, and mixed farming.

Mr. Nokrac further urged farmers to adopt irrigation, timely planting, and water harvesting techniques to cope with changing weather patterns.

He called for collective community action to protect the environment, urging residents to stop bush burning and the misuse of chemicals. He also recommended that local councils and district authorities enforce by-laws requiring tree planting before cutting.

Lamwo District has been heavily affected by environmental degradation, particularly due to tree cutting for charcoal and timber. In recent years, the district has lost several tree species, worsened by large-scale grazing, with over 10,000 cattle previously brought into the area before the implementation of Presidential Executive Order Number Three.