Com Chair Report AGM 2011

The East Africa Natural History Society Plot. 83, Tufnel Drive Kamwokya.. P. O. Box 27034, Kampala, Uganda. Tel. + 256 414 540719. Fax 533528. E-mail: [email protected] CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AT THE OPENING OF THE 19TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 27 th MAY 2011 AT UGANDA MUSEUM, KAMPALA. Executive Committee Members NatureUganda members and partners Invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, Let me start by welcoming you all to NatureUganda’s 19 th Annual General Meeting but the 102nd AGM of the East Africa Natural History Society. You are members of the oldest conservation organization in the region and undoubtedly one that has immensely contributed to the conservation of nature. For Members today, you should also be proud that you are the team that is setting foundations for the new century. We could be compared to those who started the organization in 1909, the difference is that for them they started from scratch but for us we are building into the achievements of the last century. Since the last AGM in November, the EC has met two times. I want to thank my colleagues for the commitment that you continue to exhibit and the love you have for this centurion organization. Let me introduce those who are present. I will be presenting some of the issues that they have discussed and recommended for your approval so as to move our organization forward. Our term has also been very short (five months) but a lot has happened. At the last AGM that was held on the 3rd h November 2010 two important things happened. 1) You changed the financial year from April-March to January-December. As you may realize, our AGM is coming too early in the year, compared to the previous years. This is a result of the decision you made last year to change our financial calendar. For those who have been members longer, you may remember that the decision to have April-march as our financial year was based on the fact that major donors at the time used this same period. However NatureUganda has grown and has attracted many partners with different financial periods. The decision you made last year therefore reflected the maturity of our organization to set its own standards. Our financial year will therefore start from January to December and from now onwards, the treasurer’s financial report will reflect this new arrangement. Our AGM therefore will be held in the first month of the second quarter (April) of every year to allow for the auditing of accounts in the first quarter of the year. 2) The second thing that happened was that for the first time in our history we failed to secure valid nominations for executive Committee members and we could not hold election. We could look at this issue in two ways. It could have been a vote of confidence for the existing EC members having performed very well for the previous two years. For that I would say thank you for your appreciation. But it could also have been that members lost interest in the organization and therefore did not bather with nomination. However this is not reflected in other areas such as attendance of events such as nature walks, public talks, excursions or even AGM. Nonetheless, even if it was the former, you have a constitutional right to elect an EC that will spearhead the implementation of your programme for the year. I have been informed by the secretariat that this time we have nomination and many new nominations. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to expound more on the issue of elections. NatureUganda operates under the East Africa natural History Society (EANHS) constitution. This constitution manages NatureKenya and NatureUganda as two sister organizations in Kenya and Uganda. I will not go deep 1 into the discussion of history because you know it and you can read more details on our documents including the website. However, suffice to know that the two organizations are autonomous and locally registered in the respective countries. We are therefore bound by history but operate independently and we have developed unique features overtime. The constitution that guides this organization may not have sufficient detail for us or NatureKenya as well. Indeed the EC has received communication from NatureKenya to this effect. The EC has considered the views expressed by NatureKenya and has scrutinized our operations and recommends to the AGM the following; That NatureUganda remains committed to regional partnership through the East Africa Natural History Society and be proud of the history and contribution that the society has done over the century to document wildlife in East African region and conservation of nature. However the new developments indicate that NatureUganda and NatureKenya may want to pursue a national agenda that may require that we develop independent guidelines. This means NU develops its own constitution that will guide its operations in Uganda and NatureKenya does the same. The two organizations would then cooperate under EANHS through a Memorandum of understanding specifying roles and various areas of cooperation The EC has two subcommittees; i.e. the Finance committee headed by the Treasurer Mr. Nabanyumya and the Science and Technical Committee headed by Prof. Pomeroy. The two subcommittees have performed very well and now we do realize what we missed before they were put in place. The Finance committee has had two meetings. This committee spearheaded the audit process for a nine months period (April 2010-December 2010) in order to set the beginning of the new financial arrangement that you approved last year. The report is available and the treasurer will present the outcome. The subcommittee has also embarked on another important task to develop a chat of accounts or financial frame work for the organization. As you know NU implements a large programme and technical and financial support from various sources. The committee would like to create a framework that can easily capture the scope of the organization incorporating all projects and activities. This will ease the reporting by the secretariat and Monitoring and evaluation by the EC. The most important comment I can make is that NU is still health programmatically and financially. It has always been my wish that at every AGM, a new EC takes over a health organization. The Science and Technical committee has met three times since the last AGM in November. In addition to monitoring and supervising the scientific work of the organization, they are supporting the secretariat to develop key documents both for the organization and the general public. Three documents are completed; the checklist for birds of Uganda, 20 years of waterfowl counts and Proceedings of the first Conservation Conference. Other documents such as the Popular Birds handbook are in advanced stages. NatureUganda is known for its scientific work as the main objective why the EANHS was established. We are glad that this committee continues to strengthen this position. At this point I want to call upon the working groups to be vigilant with your work to reinforce this committee. Please contact the secretariat and you will be advised on how to participate in working group activities and registration forms are available at the registration desk. Let me report briefly on our conservation programme. The conservation programme is informed by the science and therefore a big connection with the S&T committee. NU has developed its programmes to focus its attention on the priority issues for conservation based on priority species, priority sites and priority habitats. We are implementing over eight projects that contribute to those priority areas. I will encourage you to visit the secretariat to lean more on the details of the conservation programmes and how you, as members, can make a contribution. I will highlight some achievements On priority species, one example is the grey-crowned Crane, Uganda’s national symbol. NU is working with other international partners such as BirdLife International and IUCN in highlighting critical species for conservation. Based on information that we have collected on the Grey-crowned Crane over ten 2 years, its population is declining rapidly and working with our partners the species is recognized as vulnerable globally. This means that if nothing is done it can disappear in less than 25 years. NU working with national and regional partners in all range states, we have developed a species action plan that we hope will help government to develop a species specific policy by end of 2011 to save our national symbol from extinction. NU is already implementing conservation activities in central and western Uganda to conserve the cranes. There are other examples of birds, mammals, plants, microbial resources where NU is working. On priority sites, the working on conservation of key biodiversity areas has continued. These include Important Bird Areas, Ramsar sites and protected areas. NU is working on all Ramsar sites in Uganda through conservation activities, working local communities and government, research or monitoring. We also continue to cover all IBAs. We are collating information on Mabamba Ramsar sites to extend its boundaries to cover new areas of Makanaga bay in Mpigi District. We have also started documentation of Lake Bunyonyi as potential Ramsar site that will cover Nyamuriro IBA. We are also exploring opportunity to extend Nabajjuzi wetland to cover the whole of Katonga River basin. We have completed sites account for Kibimba wetland as the new IBA making 34 IBAs in Uganda. Documentation and research work will begin this year on Kalinzu Forest Reserve as a potential IBA. Although Ramsar Sites and IBAs are not protected areas, they are internationally recognized categories as key biodiversity areas and since government have committed itself to conservation of critical species and sites through CBD, Ramsar and other conventions, NU supports government to implement its international obligations.

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