Uganda faces significant environmental challenges, including deforestation, wetland degradation, climate change and population pressure.

• Deforestation and land degradation: Deforestation in Uganda is driven by agricultural expansion, charcoal production and population growth. Wetlands are being drained and degraded, affecting water regulation and biodiversity.

• Climate change: Uganda is vulnerable to climate change, with increasing frequency of droughts, floods and landslides affecting agriculture, water availability and infrastructure.

• Biodiversity loss: Uganda's national parks, including Bwindi, Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth, host iconic species such as mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants and lions. Threats include habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict.

• Chemicals and waste: The management of obsolete pesticides, agricultural chemicals and solid waste, particularly in urban areas, remains a challenge.

The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program (GEF SGP) can support community-led initiatives that contribute to Uganda's national and global environmental commitments.

• National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Support community-based conservation around national parks, the restoration of degraded wetlands, rangelands and forests, and sustainable livelihood opportunities, including ecotourism and non-timber forest products.

• Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Promote decentralized renewable energy solutions, including solar power and biogas, in rural communities; climate-smart agriculture; and landscape restoration to enhance carbon sequestration.

• National Action Plan (NAP) under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): Support sustainable land management practices, agroforestry and the restoration of degraded lands, particularly in the cattle corridor and mountainous regions.

• National Implementation Plan (NIP) under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants: Promote integrated pest management, the safe management of chemicals, and community-based waste management and recycling.

• Community management of threatened ecosystems and species: Support communities living adjacent to national parks in sustainable resource use, wildlife corridor conservation and the reduction of human-wildlife conflict.

• Sustainable agriculture and food security: Promote climate-smart agriculture, agroforestry and sustainable farming practices among smallholder farmers, while strengthening value chains and food systems.

• Access to low-impact energy and co-benefits: Support community-scale renewable energy solutions, including solar power and biogas, for rural electrification, water pumping and productive uses.

• Local-to-global coalitions for chemicals and waste management: Work with farming communities to reduce agrochemical use through integrated pest management and organic agriculture.

• Sustainable urban solutions: Support urban agriculture, green infrastructure and food loss reduction in Kampala, Jinja and other urban centres.