Foreword
The availability of consistent, up-to-date and relevant en- Recently, NEMA has undertaken to provide support to
vironmental information is a pre-requisite for rational the Uganda Bureau of Statistics through the Poverty and
and cost-effective decision making processes. Among the Environment Project to establish an operational environ-
efforts undertaken by the Uganda National Environment mental statistical unit. Having as many of the core na-
Management Authority (NEMA) over the past 10 years tional datasets managed in a coordinated manner that en-
has been the effective management of environmental ables ease of access and compatibility carries the promise
information. As early as 1994 it was realized that most of providing the country with opportunities to conduct
institutions in the country needed to collect, update and the required analytical tasks much more efficiently.
transform their data into formats that can be used in en-
vironmental analysis. The National Environmental Infor- It has taken a lot of effort and dedication on the part of all
mation Center (NEIC) established during the same year national institutions that collect and use environment re-
played a leading role in laying the foundation for capacity lated data to reach where we are in promoting informed de-
building in the use of tools such as Remote Sensing and cision making in environmental management and we hope
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) among govern- that other countries can learn from our experience to move
ment institutions. These tools have greatly enhanced the forward some of the similar initiatives they have embarked
production of the National State of Environment reports upon. NEMA highly appreciates the technical and financial
and Environmental Atlases in Uganda. support from UNEP, World Bank, GRID-Arendal and other
stakeholders that have been instrumental in improving the
In the current national legislation, the National Environ- management of environmental information in Uganda.
ment Act, Cap 153, 1995 requires that NEMA produces a
National State of Environment Report (NSOER) bienni- I hope this publication provides you a snapshot of both
ally. NEMA has continued to meet this obligation and to the successes achieved and challenges faced in managing
date seven reports have been published and disseminat- environmental data and information in Uganda.
ed. The same legislation requires that each District pro-
duces a District State of Environment Report (DSOER)
annually and NEMA has provided guidelines to support
this process. The National State of Environment report-
ing process in Uganda has a wide participation, with
most government institutions making significant and Aryamanya-Mugisha, Henry
valuable contributions. Executive Director, NEMA
4 Best Practices in Environmental Information Management in Africa
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