Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation in Uganda
An inventory of projects using nature-based solutions for adaptation to address climate and biodiversity challenges (2015–2026)
This inventory showcases interventions implemented in Uganda from 2015 onward that employ ecosystem processes, ecosystem restoration, ecosystem management, or sustainable ecosystem use to reduce climate vulnerability and enhance resilience. It documents the approaches taken by each intervention, the climate and biodiversity risk they address, the ecosystems they target, and the beneficiaries they are intended to serve.
Key Findings
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Uganda’s NbS for adaptation are not dominated by a single ecosystem; they are distributed across wetlands and associated catchments, protected areas and forest landscapes, mountains, peatlands, river systems, and savannah, spanning both rural agricultural landscapes and ecologically sensitive areas.
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The societal challenges addressed by the NbS projects are coupled rather than treated as separate. Food insecurity, water stress, exposure to floods and droughts, declining agricultural production, degradation of ecosystem services, and pressure on biodiversity repeatedly appear together.
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From a biodiversity perspective, most NbS in Uganda are not designed around species-specific conservation. Their biodiversity value lies primarily in reducing habitat degradation, wetland encroachment, riverbank erosion, forest loss, invasive species pressure, and catchment decline.
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Social inclusion is visible but uneven across the portfolio. Some projects provide explicit evidence of gender-responsive design, women’s participation, targeted livelihood benefits, or focus on marginalized groups.
Uganda is experiencing increasing climate variability alongside ongoing ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. Changes in rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and more frequent extreme events, such as floods, droughts, and landslides, are interacting with degraded wetlands, declining forest cover, and stressed catchment systems to intensify vulnerability across both rural and peri-urban areas.
These interacting pressures place particular stress on water security, climate-sensitive agricultural systems, and exposure to climate-related disasters, reinforcing the case for adaptation measures that restore and strengthen ecosystem function.
This inventory has been developed to identify and analyze nature-based solutions (NbS) for adaptation implemented in Uganda since 2015. Its purpose is not only to compile a list of projects but also to establish how ecosystem-based interventions are applied in practice to reduce climate vulnerability, strengthen resilience, and provide a structured basis for comparing them across landscapes, ecosystems, and risk contexts. The inventory documents the approaches taken by each intervention, the climate and biodiversity risks they address, the ecosystems they target, and the beneficiaries they are intended to serve.
Participating experts
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