Kampala is facing a slow-burning ecological crisis. New data presented at the Wetland Situational Analysis and Draft Kampala City Wetland Strategy meeting reveals that the city has lost over 2,000 hectares of wetlands, translating to a 56.6% reduction since 1994.
Held at the Imperial Royale Hotel, the high-level meeting brought together conservationists, policymakers, and urban planners to review the alarming degradation trends and propose solutions through a new strategy spearheaded by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
“We do not and will not tolerate the illegal construction of buildings in wetlands,” warned Ivan Katongole, Deputy Director for Land Use, Planning and Development at KCCA. “These activities are responsible for the destruction we are seeing, and they put the city at risk of major floods and environmental collapse.”
According to the situational analysis, Kampala is losing wetlands at an average rate of 7% per year, primarily due to illegal settlements, industrial development and weak enforcement of environmental laws.
“If this trend continues, the environmental and economic consequences will be dire—ranging from water pollution and flooding to the loss of livelihoods,” cautioned Dr Ivan Bamweyana, lead researcher from Subamu Investments Ltd.
Far from being useless swamps, wetlands function as the city’s invisible infrastructure. They provide drainage, filter polluted runoff, recharge aquifers, and buffer against floods. Yet urban development continues to treat them as vacant land ripe for settlement and construction.
The study, using advanced GIS (Geographic Information System) tools, covered eight critical wetlands, including Nakivubo, Kansanga, Kinawataka, and Lubigi. Each has witnessed varying levels of encroachment, but the pattern is clear: infrastructure growth is expanding with little regard for ecological consequences.
The Numbers Tell a Grim Story
- In 2004, there were 20,958 housing units in wetland areas.
- By 2024, this number will have surged to 56,679.
- Lubigi Wetland is the most heavily encroached, now housing 21,249 structures.
“Despite strong constitutional and policy protections, enforcement is lacking. Without effective implementation, we risk losing these critical ecosystems altogether,” said Dr. Joash Watema, Project Manager at Subamu Investments.
Flavia Zabali, a GIS Analyst at KCCA, demonstrated how spatial mapping is being leveraged to guide infrastructure development in sensitive areas.
“Our role is to provide data that informs planning decisions, ensuring development is sustainable and aligned with environmental priorities,” she explained.
The forum’s recommendations of integrating wetland education, increasing public awareness, tightening enforcement, and adopting the Kampala Wetlands Strategy are not new. Many have appeared in earlier reports. What’s needed now is not more ideas, but implementation.
A deeper question looms: can Kampala reconcile its development ambitions with environmental reality? Or will the city continue to sacrifice long-term resilience for short-term growth?
As KCCA prepares to finalize the Wetlands Strategy, the urgency is no longer academic. This is a test of governance, foresight, and civic responsibility. Experts warn that the city is reaching a point of no return where even restoration may no longer be possible.
“Rapid urbanization must not come at the cost of our survival systems,” Dr. Bamweyana said, “Wetlands are not obstacles to development, they are the foundation of sustainable cities.”
In the end, the crisis is not only ecological but political. The fate of Kampala’s wetlands will be determined not by words in a hotel conference room, but by the city’s ability to act decisively, consistently, and transparently.