According to third National Development Plan (NDP111) 2020/21 – 2024/25), natural resource and climate change management are critical to the reduction of disaster losses, achievement of increased household incomes and improvement of quality of life of the population. Sustainable land management is critical for harmonizing environmental, economic and social opportunities for the benefit of present and future generations while maintaining and enhancing the quality of the land resource. Sufficient precipitation occasioned by maintaining and/or increasing forest and wetland cover is vital for hydropower generation, agriculture, fisheries, domestic water supply, industry, navigation, tourism, wildlife and ecosystems. Proper wetland management is necessary to mitigate flood risks, maintenance of aquatic ecosystem, and access to fresh water. Environment preservation is also critical for human health and tourism.

However, in most parts of Uganda, the catchments have been encroached mostly through cultivation, settlement, infrastructural & industrial developments leading to some rivers and streams to dry up leaving galleys resulting from runoff during the rainy seasons. The associated resources such as forests and wetlands usually downstream are in most cases equally heavily degraded which hence affecting heavily their ecological functions highlighted in the figure below: