The National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) is a Nominee for the 2019 Uganda Responsible Investment Award (URI Award) slated for 22nd November 2019 during a High Level Uganda Responsible Investment Summit and Award Ceremony. The 2019 Uganda Responsible Investment Summit and Award Ceremony is organised by Public Opinions and Office of the Minister of State for Privatisation and Investment. To be honoured in appreciation of its contribution towards attainment of Uganda Vision 2040 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Uganda.
The National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) is an action organization committed to sustainable solutions to Uganda,s most challenging environmental and economic growth problems. We monitor government actions, conduct research, provide educational materials, develop science-based strategies, organize affected communities, make common cause with other civil society organisations and international organizations, and engage government officials at all levels.
It is an ambitious undertaking, but as lifelong Ugandans we cannot ignore what is happening to our precious homeland. While we stand ready to work with anyone committed to the public interest, we also will not allow powerful political or special interests to intimidate or silence us. We have done so since our founding in 1997.
We choose our actions carefully to use our skills and resources most effectively, addressing our most urgent challenges first, and expand our impact by involving like-minded organizations and individuals, and communities in need.
NAPE’s Core values
- Professionalism
Believes in employing well trained, highly knowledgeable and skilled staff to deliver high quality services through conducting research and confidently advocating for best practices in natural resource management. - Teamwork & Commitment
NAPE gives due importance to working together to achieve a common objective, respecting each other’s contribution, realizing and appreciating that togetherness is prime to accomplishment of tasks. - Transparency & Accountability
NAPE believes in being open in all ways and at all times, telling the truth, ensuring that resources are effectively and efficiently used, in the interest of every one. - Respect
NAPE places high value on the preservation of life, property, and the environment. - Integrity
NAPE expects its members and other networks/partnerships to conduct themselves in a manner beyond reproach
CORE ACHIEVEMENTS
In 2006 the Government of Uganda in collaboration with the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL) owned by the Mehta Group of companies announced plans to clear one-third of the Mabira Central Forest Reserve (around 70 square kilometres (27 sq mi), for sugarcane plantations. Government then proposed to de-gazette this land and transfer its ownership to SCOUL.
The deforestation plans however, were disputed within Uganda. Environmentalists and the general public in Uganda feared for the loss of hundreds of endangered species, increased soil erosion, the damage of livelihoods of thousands of local people who directly depend on the forest, and the negative impacts on water balance and regional climate.
The President and cabinet supported the plan and viewed it in terms of increased job creation. The cabinet then claimed the plan would generate 3,500 jobs and contribute 11.5 billion Ugandan shillings to the treasury. The unemployment rate in Uganda then stood at 1.90 percent according the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Despite all effort –dialogue meetings between environmental activists and the president, government line ministries and the management of SCOUL, with clear reasons to dispute the forest give-away, the president went ahead with the de-gazettement plan.
Uganda is one of the most energy poor countries in the world, with limited access to electricity. With a population of about 35 million people, only about nine (according to World Bank, 2013) percent of Ugandans are on the national electricity grid and these are largely (certainly not entirely) upper and middle class people. Since 1954 when Uganda got it first hydropower plant, the country has highly depended on hydropower from large dams for almost all of her electricity needs. Unfortunately, donors and government have been more interested in large, centralized hydropower plants rather than smaller scale projects that could share the energy wealth around the country. Secondly, the cost of extending power from the main grid to rural communities scattered in different areas remains a big challenge.
In 1996, in a bid to increase electricity and spur development in the country, government proposed to construct another big dam near Bujagali falls on river Nile, 8 kilometers downstream of the Naluubale (Owen Falls dam). Government then approached the World Bank for financial support to construct the energy facility. The World Bank and Government of Uganda claimed the project will double electrical output, stimulate industrial development and bring electricity to Uganda’s poor.
Read more: Campaign against Bujagali dam
Frank Muramuzi
Executive Director,
National Association of Professional Environmentalists(NAPE)
Plot 7138 Entebbe Road – Zana
P.o.Box 29909, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 414 530181/534453
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Skype: napeuganda
website : www.nape.or.ug
