SDG 15 IN UGANDA

53-year old Sylvia Olet lives in Alip village in Kole district in Northern Uganda. She is a member of the Water Resource Committee (WRC) for the borehole in the village, which was formed when the borehole was rehabilitated under the Toshiba CarbonZero scheme. She recounts how the WRC has been instrumental in raising awareness in the community about the importance of planting and conserving trees around the borehole. The WRC received information when the borehole was formed on the role that trees play in ensuring continuous ground water recharge, due to the manner in which tree roots contribute to the stability and water retention of the soil.

In the past 3 years, the awareness raising of the WRC has led to community efforts to plant trees across 4 square kilometres of the land surrounding the borehole in Alip. Sylvia reports that people recognise the benefits in terms of improved soil quality and combating climate change as well as knowing how the activity helps to conserve groundwater supplies. Sylvia says: “This borehole has been very useful to us and in return, we have decided to also look after it well. We are always keeping the surrounding area clean without destroying the vegetation around it. Much as wood fuel has become scarce, we try not to destroy the trees and vegetation around the borehole in search of firewood. To collect firewood, we go to Aminadong forest that is 4km away from where I live. In the past, we were burdened to collect so much firewood to cater for cooking, boiling our drinking water and even sometimes warming water for bathing young children. This is because we were collecting our water from an unsafe open well which has since been abandoned for animals only. With Alip borehole now rehabilitated, we only collect little firewood for preparing meals. The borehole provides a safe water source for drinking and so many other hygiene purposes.”

Sylvia went on to narrate that her main source of income farming and she organically grows beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, and rice as household and cash crops. She notes that the WRC has been instrumental in promoting organic farming, discouraging people from using chemical fertilisers due to the negative impacts on soil and groundwater quality. The WRC has big plans to continue supporting the community in improving the environment around Alip by investing a proportion of the contributions it receives from the community into seedling cultivation, which will then be redistributed to households for out-planting. As a WRC members, Sylvia looks forward to the role she will play in supporting livelihoods and protecting the environment in her community.

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