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RAMSAR ADVISORY MISSION - REPORT N°90 Republic of Uganda Murchison Falls – Albert Delta Wetland System, Uganda, Ramsar Site No. 1640 Lake George Wetland, Uganda, Ramsar Site No. 394 Lutembe Bay Wetland System, Uganda, Ramsar Site No. 1637 Prepared by: Mark Infield, International Wetland Expert, Independent Consultant Paul Mafabi, Director Environmental Affairs, Head of Ramsar Administrative Authority of Uganda Lucy Anne Iyango, Assistant Commissioner, Ramsar National Focal Point of Uganda Vincent Barugahare, Principal Wetlands Officer, Wetland specialist Paul Ouedraogo, Ecologist and Senior Advisor for Africa at the Ramsar Convention Secretariat 04 – 12 October 2018 1. Background ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Overview of Uganda’s wetlands ..................................................................................... 1 1.2. Wetland loss in Uganda .................................................................................................. 3 1.2.1 Overall level and rate of loss ................................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Wetland loss by wetland class ................................................................................. 4 1.2.3 Wetland loss by water regime ................................................................................. 4 1.2.4 Wetland loss by drainage basin ............................................................................... 5 1.3. Murchison Falls – Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site: Ecological character ...... 6 1.4. Lake George Wetland Ramsar Site: Ecological character ............................................... 7 1.5. Lutembe Bay Wetland Ramsar Site: Ecological character ............................................. 8 1.6. Background to the Ramsar Advisory Mission ................................................................. 9 1.7. Importance of the RAM recommendations .................................................................. 12 2. Hydrological and wider context ...................................................................................... 13 2.1. Background ................................................................................................................... 13 2.2. The Lake Victoria Basin ................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1. Hydrology ............................................................................................................... 16 2.2.2. Economic activities ................................................................................................ 16 2.3. The Albertine Rift Valley ............................................................................................... 17 2.3.1. Hydrology ............................................................................................................... 17 2.3.2. Economic activities ................................................................................................ 18 3. Maintaining ecological character .................................................................................... 18 3.1. Overview ....................................................................................................................... 18 3.2. Current management of Murchison Falls–Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site 18 3.3. Current management of the Lake George Wetland Ramsar Site ................................. 18 3.4. Current management of the Lutembe Bay Wetland Ramsar Site ................................ 19 3.5. Pressures on the ecological character of the three Ramsar Sites ................................ 19 3.5.1. Murchison Falls – Albert Delta Ramsar Site .......................................................... 20 3.5.2. Lake George Ramsar Site ....................................................................................... 21 3.5.3. Lutembe Bay Ramsar Site ...................................................................................... 22 3.6. Human-induced change within the three Ramsar Sites ............................................... 24 3.6.1. Murchison Falls – Albert Delta Ramsar Site .......................................................... 24 3.6.2. Lake George Ramsar Site ....................................................................................... 24 3.6.3. Lutembe Bay Ramsar Site ...................................................................................... 24 3.7. Drivers of wetlands degradation and loss in Uganda ................................................... 25 3.8. Climate scenarios of the Ramsar Sites .......................................................................... 26 3.8.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 27 3.8.2 Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site .................................. 28 3.8.3 Lake George Ramsar Site ....................................................................................... 30 3.8.4 Lutembe Bay Wetland System Ramsar Site ........................................................... 32 4. Current strategies and frameworks for the wise use of wetlands ................................. 34 4.1. Background to wise use ................................................................................................ 34 4.2. Challenges to current strategies and frameworks........................................................ 35 4.3. Discussion...................................................................................................................... 35 5. Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................................ 36 5.1. Negative human-induced change ................................................................................. 36 5.2. Murchison Falls – Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site ...................................... 36 5.3. Lake George Wetland Ramsar Site ................................................................................ 38 5.4. Lutembe Bay Wetland Ramsar Site .............................................................................. 39 5.5. General recommendations ........................................................................................... 40 5.6. Workshop recommendations ....................................................................................... 40 6. Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 44 7. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 45 8. Annexes ............................................................................................................................ 47 8.1. RIS of Murchison Falls – Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site ............................ 47 8.2. RIS of Lake George Wetland Ramsar Site ..................................................................... 55 8.3. RIS of Lutembe Wetland Ramsar Site ........................................................................... 57 8.4. RAM Itinerary ................................................................................................................ 69 8.5. List of consultees........................................................................................................... 70 8.6. Workshop Report .......................................................................................................... 74 List of Table and Figures Table 1: Key events in the development of wetland management policy and practice ........... 2 Table 2 : Wetland cover in 1994 and 2008 ................................................................................ 3 Table 3 : Changes in wetland areas per wetland class between 1994 and 2008 ...................... 4 Table 4 : Area of wetland loss by drainage basin ...................................................................... 5 Table 5: Workshop Recommendations ................................................................................... 43 List of Figures Figure 1: Relative loss of permanent and seasonal wetland in km2 - 1994 to 2008 ................ 5 Figure 2 : Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Wetland System .......................................................... 7 Figure 3: Lake George Wetland Ramsar Site ............................................................................. 8 Figure 4 : Lutembe Bay Wetland Ramsar Site ........................................................................... 9 Figure 5: Regional Map of Uganda .......................................................................................... 14 Figure 6 : Lake Victoria Basin ................................................................................................... 14 Figure 7 : Uganda’s river basins ............................................................................................... 15 Figure 8 : Uganda’s Catchment Management Zones .............................................................. 15 Figure 9 : Evolution from 1950 to 2100 of (A) the surface air temperature, (B) the consecutive warm days (C) the surface evaporation flux and (D) the relative surface humidity at Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site. ............................... 28 Figure 10 : Evolution from 1950