00:00The river Rwizi flows through southwest Uganda.
00:06More than 5 million people directly depend on it as a source of water and to earn a living.
00:12The waterway, once a vibrant artery of life, now bears the scars of human activity.
00:17The whole river ecosystem is under threat.
00:20The river Rwizi faces three major challenges.
00:22The first is harvesting sand from the riverbed.
00:25You see those who are mining, who are sand mining in the riverbed, they are standing
00:31in the middle of the river, meaning that now the water levels have drastically gone down.
00:38And if this goes on for another 10 years ahead, there is a likelihood that we might end up
00:46not having any more water flowing through.
00:49And this will definitely affect quite a number because it feeds the national park and it
00:56is also feeding into Victoria.
01:00Apart from sand mining, population pressure is leading to encroachment of the riverbank.
01:05The National Environment Management Authority estimates about 60% of the river's catchment
01:10area has been degraded.
01:12Siltation caused by soil erosion has reduced the riverbank by 40 metres.
01:18Mining the soil along the banks to make bricks to keep pace with the area's rapid urbanisation
01:23is also destroying the river ecosystem.
01:28And water pollution, including industrial effluents and waste, are poisoning the river water.
01:34There are times in the year when at this point there are so many dead fish and chances are
01:41that these fish are dying because of industrial activities upstream.
01:48And we think something wrong is happening with the fish.
01:57Maybe they are feeding on poisoned water.
02:04This continuous discharge of toxins into the river endangers not only aquatic life but
02:09also communities that directly depend on the river as a source of water.
02:14Globally, over two billion people consume contaminated water and risk dire health consequences.
02:22The river Rwizi's plight is a reminder of the environmental implications of industrial activities.
02:32Another big challenge facing the river is plastic waste.
02:37And when I got to that point, I saw plastics.
02:41It had rained like in the past two, three days and all these plastics from the city
02:45was floating within a given section of the river.
02:49And I said, at an individual level, I think I need to do something.
02:52I recorded a video, posted it online and I got so many responses.
02:57And from that, I was able to persuade the people who were within Mbarara.
03:01We mobilised resources, got some materials, equipment and came and did the clean-ups.
03:05And from that, it's a routine activity that we have been doing every time we have the rains.
03:14The plastic waste, including bottles and polythene bags, are increasingly emerging as a hazard
03:19to all marine and human life.
03:21Uganda generates 600 tonnes of plastic waste each day but only 6% is collected.
03:28But amidst the challenges are glimmers of hope as individuals, communities and activists
03:33raise to the occasion to look for solution.
03:36The Waste Watch initiative ensures that all of the plastic collected from the river Rwizi
03:41is converted into funds to support the people who live along the river.
03:45All of the collected waste is packaged and sold to other companies for recycling.
03:49After compacting these bottles into bales, I supply them to a company called Standard
03:55Recycling.
03:56It is based in Kampala.
03:58They do different products out of them and one of them are pellets and the rest.
04:06Collecting and recycling plastic is not the only intervention people are undertaking to
04:10save the river.
04:11This group reuses soya and avocado waste from a refinery.
04:15It's a source of income for young men and women here.
04:20This material is hazardous and if not turned into a productive product, it could end up
04:27into the water streams and bodies and swamps.
04:30From here we bring it into our crusher where we crush it and mix it with natural oils from
04:37sunflower, soybean and palm oil and neutralise it into a usable product.
04:43The river Rwizi ecosystem must be protected, whether through government action against
04:48illegals and mining or individuals who restore the riverbank.
04:53In the last five years we have planted over 2,000 trees but about 500 species in total
05:02and what we are trying to solve is, you see, we are trying to stop that soil and sand from
05:09flowing into the river and making, reducing its weeds.
05:14And we hope that by the time we have planted like 5,000 trees, this whole area will become
05:21green and then the sand will not be coming to the banks and maybe the river will again widen.
05:32The journey to restore the river Rwizi is challenging, but with the dedication of these
05:37environmental warriors, there is hope for a cleaner river in the future.
Comments