How Kampala lost 56% of its wetlands in 3 decades

People stand amid debris of buildings demolished by Nema in Kaliddubi Wetland in Wakiso District on June 4. PHOTO | GEOFREY MUTUMBA

Kampala’s wetlands have dwindled dramatically in just three decades, shrinking from 3,201 hectares in 1994 to 1,388 hectares in 2024, representing a staggering loss of over 56 percent, a new report shows. The decline of Kampala’s wetlands is not just a loss of land covered by water but a threat to the city’s resilience against flooding, water purification, and biodiversity, according to environmentalists and physical planners. This information is contained in the 2025 Kampala City Wetlands Situation Report, conducted by Subamu Investments Limited, a firm contracted by the government to evaluate the wetlands’ status.

Researchers and government officials attribute the decline to increased human encroachment for settlements, industrial development, and agriculture. They warn that this is exacerbated by weak enforcement of protective laws and inadequate or absent urban planning in rapidly expanding areas. “The wetlands in Kampala have largely declined since 1994 to date, and we’ve lost about 2,000 hectares of land to this, a representation of about 56 percent of that total acreage of the wetlands since 1994,” Dr Ivan Bamweyana, a consultant with Subamu, revealed.

Dr Bamweyana said Lubigi is the most affected wetland of the eight in Kampala, with 21,249 buildings, while Namalusu is the least affected because of its aggressive flooding. The wetlands evaluated include Lubigi, Nakivubo, Kinawataka, Kansanga Ggabba, Kalidubi, Walufumbe, Kyetinda and Namalusu.

In an interview , the consultant attributed the loss of wetlands to a combination of factors. “There have been major causes: people taking up land to settle there, and people developing industries there,” he said. “This [decline] can [also] be attributed to the population pressure, people requiring new areas to settle, and people being unguided on what a wetland is or being uneducated about what our wetland is,” he added.

The report indicates that the number of buildings in wetlands nearly tripled, rising from 20,958 in 2004 to 56,679 in 2024. The firm said they used satellite imagery, aerial photography, and field surveys to come up with the report. The KCCA Deputy Director of Land Use Planning and Development, Mr Ivan Katongole, points to the complex issue of land ownership as a key driver. “The landholding system vests some wetlands in private hands,” he said, explaining that many constructions on wetlands are informal and unapproved.

“Our approval system requires that