How “Pet a Tree” Local weather Change Initiative Will Assist Uganda Tourism
- In launching the initiative, the Minister gave the organization his full support.
- The project falls directly under Uganda’s National Development Plan for the 40 Million Tree Campaign.
- The minister stated that a relationship between tourism and the environment is interdependent for wildlife, which need trees to survive. So there is a need to preserve existing trees while planting more.
Due to its natural, cultural, historical and social climate potential, the environment represents the motivation for tourist trips, while a clean and unchanged environment cannot exist without ecotourism.
The country director of the Uganda World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Mr. David Dduli, thanked the founders of “Pet a Tree” for the birth of such a brilliant initiative and pledged to support the organization in one step towards tree restoration. “Young people need to be mobilized to join the initiative. Pet names have always been part of African tradition and create a bond. Let’s use ‘Pet a Tree’ to bring back the practice of nicknames, ”said Duli. “We are standing on an opportunity that our ancestors had and lost, and it is now our opportunity to recreate it for future generations.”
The board of directors of Africa Tourism and Environment Initiatives, who is also the board of directors of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association, Ms. Susan Muhwezi, thanked the National Forestry Authority (NFA), WWF, UWEC and the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiques for their support amazing initiative focused on biodiversity restoration. She spoke about how she has continuously supported such initiatives in her individual role and will continue to do so. Ms. Muhwezi called on the government and development partners to continuously support young people’s initiatives who are developing the country.
The Executive Director of UWEC, Dr. James Musiguzi, advised Ugandans to make tree planting the norm on special occasions like weddings, birthdays, etc. perhaps for the first time in human history. We need to recognize the underlying challenge of climate change. “
The Minister of State for the Environment, the Honorable Beatrice Anywar, was represented by Stuart Maniraguha, director of the plantation at NFA, who emphasized the need to plant at least 124 hectares of land annually to restore the lost forest area. He said the tree population had decreased from 24% to 8% in 30 years, but with such initiatives there is now a glimmer of hope. The effects are being felt by increasing the forest area to 10%, and he promised the NFA that he would support the “Pet a Tree” campaign. He also called for a renewed awareness and participation of all Ugandans and organizations to join the climate change campaigns to restore nature.
The Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Tooro, Joan Else Kantu, has awarded 5 hectares of land to the “Pet a Tree” campaign on behalf of the Kingdom for the planting of a forest in Tooro using Tooro cosmetic names. “We listen to the scream of nature. This forest is intended to ensure that our grandchildren appreciate biodiversity as we enjoyed it. “
Amumpaire Moses Bismac, founder of “Pet a Tree” and Africa Tourism and Environment Initiatives, thanked the government agencies WWF, National Forestry Authority, Uganda Wildlife Education Center and Uganda Wildlife Authority for supporting the “Pet a Tree” campaign. He called on fellow journalists and all Ugandans to have at least one pet tree. “I particularly value the support of WWF in its environmental initiatives and the support of this ‘Pet a Tree’ campaign.”
In Uganda, on the initiative of Omukama (King) Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I, the Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara, one of the country’s cultural institutions, has adapted the laying of saplings instead of wreaths at burials to reforest the kingdom, a practice that has been in recent years few years.
