Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland

Description of Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland landscape, Kabala district
The Rushebeya- Kanyabaha landscape lies in Kabale district 30 km North East of Kabale town in the Kigezi highlands, South-western Uganda at 300 07”E, 1009”S to 290 59” E, 10 03”S. Kigezi highlands are one of the most densely populated areas in Uganda facing severe environmental problems that reflect on people’s livelihoods. The Rushebeya-Kanyabaha landscape is shared between the three sub-counties of Bukinda, Rwamucucu and Kashambya all in Rukiga County, Kabale district. This landscape is described as the Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland (gazetted as a protected wetland under the National Wetland Policy in 2002) and its associated catchment area. The wetland in particular is a resource of common interest to the people living in the landscape. It is delineated by the boundaries of seven parishes that share border with the wetland. The parishes are: Kandago and Kyerero in Bukinda sub-county, Kitunga and Kitanga in Kashambya sub-county, Burime, Nyakagabagaba, and Kitojo in Rwamucucu sub-county. The Rushebeya-Kanyabaha landscape is quite rich, involving an interaction of major natural resources. Its primary assets include; the long-stretching wetland, water resources, vast low-lying land and a wide range of hills. People have also planted trees for fuel wood and timber. The trees are mainly planted as woodlots, along farm boundaries and in a few cases scattered on the fields.
Rushebeya-Kanyabaha landscape provides opportunities for developing rewards for services schemes because saleable environmental services were identified. The main environmental services identified in the landscape were watershed services and Biodiversity conservation.

Watershed services constitute a big part of the environmental services from Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland. The wetland cuts across three sub counties of Kashambya, Rwamucucu and Bukinda in Kabale district, up to the neighboring District of Rukungiri. The wetland landscape is a catchment area for river Rushoma which transcends through and supplies its waters to Kisiizi waterfalls where Kisiizi Power Company is tapping water to generate its hydro electric power. The power generated supplies Kisiizi hospital and the surrounding communities and has been joined to the national grid. Development of a PES scheme in this landscape is a viable option to help reward the wetland landscape stewards to better manage the watershed.

Water channeled for electric production        Silted water in the tunnels to the power house
Biodiversity conservation services forms another prospective PES scheme in Rushebeya-Kanyabaha
Wetland landscape. The landscape has a mosaic of natural vegetation, crops and open water patches. The dominant vegetation is cladium spp and cyperus papyrus species and these are scattered with Miscanthidium violaceum with in the wetland. The swamp is rich in birds with globally threatened species such as Papyrus Yellow warbler (Chloropeto graciliroshtris), Papyrus gonolek and others. The swamp is also home for the IUCN red data listed Congo clawless otter (Aonyx congica) and Grey- crowned crane. The wetland is also rich in fish such as Clarias and Protopterus species and a home to the Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii), commonly known as the water antelope. The Sitatunga species is listed by IUCN as a lower risk near-threatened species (IUCN, 2006). The animal is widely hunted by the local communities illegally for meat and to control their population because they raid crops on farm.

The wetland is also a habitat for mudfish which is a special type of bait for fishing in Lake Victoria and Lake Bunyonyi. Mud fishing activity is carried out by individuals in the landscape who sell to individual business men and women from various places such as Kampala, Masaka and neighbourirng districts of Ntungamo, Rukungiri and Kanungu. Of recent, some people from outside the landscape have started to flock the villages around the wetland in order to carry out mud fishing. This activity can be regulated and some fees levied from the fishermen to support the management of the wetland and the catchment area.

Mudfish from the wetland in a basin

A number of conservation challenges were observed in Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland landscape. According to the baseline survey conducted in early 2009, (81.3%) of the land owners had degraded plots because they used poor land management practices. These include disbanding the terraces to get fertile soils, overgrazing, cutting of existing trees for timber, charcoal and firewood, and bush burning when opening new land for agriculture. These practices have left the land bare and vulnerable to soil and wind erosion, and the fertility of the soil has been reduced.

Existing land management practices are key to quality of ecosystem services in any given landscape. Only 17.7% of the land owners were applying good land management practices and had their plots well managed in Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland landscape. On the other hand, there are some good land use management practices like planting of agroforestry trees, terracing, manuring, trash lining, fallowing and crop rotation among others which were identified in the landsdcape. The soils on these plots were fertile and the owners confessed that they were productive. However, it was noted that high costs involved in land management prohibited the majority of land owners to apply good practices. Other reasons for not applying good practices were lack of training and losses to neighboring owners who were not doing good management. Existing NGOs such as CARITAS Uganda, Africa 2000network and Government institutions especially NAADS, were identified helping land owners to carry out good land management practices.

The landscape is prone to landslides due to the sharp gradient of the adjacent hills. A lot of water runoff and soil erosion are evident on the slopes with deep and wide gullies forming in the foothills close to the wetland.

Gulley formed in the foothills measuring the extent of the gullies

Local brewing (Waragi) is also an intensive activity along the streams in the wetland. This affects the quality of the water flowing into the main Rushoma river.