Uganda: Wetland Area Per Capita By Subcounty

This map displays wetland area per capita by subcounty, represented by the height of the red bar. Wetland area per person varies broadly among the 938 subcounties with data. (The data for the 20 subcounties of Kotido, Kaabong, and Abim Districts are not shown because the census data were deemed unreliable.)

Most subcounties in Uganda have less than 0.2 hectares of wetland area per person (very short red bars). This implies either that wetlands in these areas are sparse (such as in subcounties of Mbale, Arua, and Mbarara Districts) or that they have to be shared among a large number of people (such as in the subcounties of Pallisa, Iganga, and Tororo Districts).

Subcounties with high wetland area per capita (long red bars) are in Kapchorwa, Katakwi, and Moroto Districts (northeastern Uganda). They are also very common in subcounties lying within the triangle formed by Masindi, Kiboga, and Nakasongola Districts, southwest of Lake Kyoga. In general, most subcounties with high wetland area per capita are distinguished by the presence of a specific type of wetland—seasonally wet grasslands—and lower population densities (NFA, 1996; UBOS, 2002b).

This map clearly indicates that the potential demand pressure on wetlands varies across the country but few areas have low pressure (long red bars). Most subcounties have potentially high demand pressure on their wetlands.

Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996; NIMA, 1997; Brakenridge et al., 2006), and wetland area per capita (authors’ calculation based on NFA, 1996 and UBOS, 2002b).