Conservationists use sports to create environmental awareness

Through their umbrella body of the Lake Victoria Regional Local Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC), conservationists have teamed up with the sports fraternity to create environmental awareness. 

Paddy Kakumba, the LVRLAC secretary-general and also the town clerk Katabi town council said, sports is one of the strongest tools which brings people together and therefore, a viable avenue through which people can be rallied for a common cause.

“We wish to restore the Lake Victoria ecosystem by engaging the sports fraternity. We, therefore, hope to disseminate the information regarding environmental conservation to sports players and supporters,” noted Kakumba. He further advised people to stop building in buffer zones and destroying wetlands around Lake Victoria.

 Moses Ategeka, the spokesperson for Uganda plastics manufacturers’ and recycling association said, the government should penalise all factories that do not have recycling plants, saying they pose a great risk to the environment.

“Since the government has already signed up laws on conservation of nature, they should be enforced,” appealed Ategeka.

According to Ategeka, the local authorities ought to be engaged in creating jobs that are environmentally sustainable.

On behalf of the sports fraternity, Ronald Onzima said, they joined LVRLAC so as to help in the fight against poor waste disposal around Lake Victoria. In a bid to fulfill its core mandate of conserving lake Victoria, LVRLAC partnered with sports icons to promote community participation in conserving lake Victoria through sports.

Vincent Kayanja the LVRLAC chairman said, some community members are not aware of how they are directly or indirectly responsible for the degradation of the lake. "However, these people can easily be reached through areas of their interest like sports, so that we avert the fast-brewing catastrophe," noted Kayanja.

The Lake Victoria Sports tournament concept was developed by Entebbe annual corporate sports gala, where the corporate fraternity and the local community engaged in games and sports while practicing social corporate responsibility like planting trees and cleaning lake shores.

The launch of the sports event which was held on Friday at Works playground in Entebbe, included local council teams and corporate organisations situated in Entebbe. However, in the proceeding years, the event shall expand to all of Uganda and later the East African countries that share Lake Victoria as a natural resource. “This shall give a deep and wider platform for the gospel of protection, preservation, conservation, maintenance, and sustainable use and development of the Lake," explained Onzima.

Benjamin Ochan Uganda Cranes goalkeeper playing at Kenya's AFC Leopards also emphasised that during every game played in the respective local authorities,  tree planting, cleanup exercise, and environmental management sensitisation shall be carried out. "We shall request a local authority to allocate space for the LVRLAC sports forest. We also plan to have environmental management discussions during the participating team meetings. The best compliant teams shall also be recognised and awarded," Ochan noted recently.

According to Mercy Ssebuliba an academician and also a programmes coordinator under LVRLAC, the rise in Lake Victoria water levels has been catalysed by the community that pollutes and degrades lake shores and its basin, plus river banks. "These destructive acts range from tree cutting, poor methods of farming along the shorelines, pollution from industries among other activities. However, these can easily be reached through areas of their interest like sports," argued Ssebuliba.

He further noted that LVRLAC has a plan of working with communities to ensure and create a sustainable and full utilisation of the Lake Victoria resources. Prior to the games, there was tree planting around Works playground in Entebbe.