Effectiveness of wetland restoration initiatives undertaken in Rufuha Wetland – Western Uganda

Abstract

Wetlands perform important ecological functions including groundwater recharge, carbon storage and habitats of biodiversity but several of them have been degraded by industrialization and agriculture, among others. Wetland degradation and loss results in the loss of ecosystem services which can be recovered through restoration efforts. Wetland restoration initiatives worldwide have produced less than satisfactory outcomes, hardly meeting the expectations, resulting into wastage of financial resources while the factors influencing restoration success remain unknown. This study was undertaken in the Rufuha wetland system of Ntungamo District, in south-western Uganda. The aim was to examine the restoration initiatives so as to generate knowledge for guiding wetland conservation. The specific objectives were to: i) Assess the wetland restoration initiatives undertaken within Rufuha wetland; ii) Examine the temporal-spatial changes in Rufuha wetland coverage and effectiveness of restoration initiatives undertaken on the wetland; and iii) Examine constraints to the effectiveness of restoration initiatives applied. A simple random sampling approach was used to select 215 households from nine villages to whom open ended questionnaires were administered. Twelve Key Informant Interviews were conducted with people deemed informative about restoration initiatives. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) was used to examine the restoration initiatives using descriptive statistics and the Pearson Chi-square test. Changes in the wetland coverage were examined using Regression Analysis performed in Minitab 19 using remote sensing ArcGIS wetland data of 2000 to 2022. The results show that sensitization, monitoring, and demarcating wetland boundaries are the commonest restoration initiatives applied. Up to 94% of the respondents were aware of the efforts initiated to restore Rufuha wetland while environmental interests motivated their involvement in wetland restoration. Respondents reported lack of coordination among stakeholders and failure to evaluate restoration among other challenges. The spatial coverage of Rufuha wetland has significantly declined despite restoration efforts applied. Analysis showed that Rufuha wetland coverage has continued to decline since 2000 to date, the highest reduction having occurred between 2010 and 2015 with a percentage decline of 15.6%, and 3.16% between 2005 and 2010. Whereas restoration initiatives have been carried out in the Rufuha wetland, only ecosystem functions like improving water quality have been restored according to the community. The decline in spatial coverage is attributed to increasing human population pressures. Lack of coordination by the stakeholders, failure to conduct restoration evaluation, and lack of defined monitoring and evaluation protocol still constrain effective wetland restoration initiatives. There is a need to develop localized wetland use policies, and committees to guide the proper use of local wetland resources.