| Overview : Mt Elgon landscape presents a variety of ecosystems providing services upon which local population heavily depends. A large portion of the landscape is now degraded, considering current changes in land use due to expansion of agriculture fields and human settlements, largely driven by high population growth. There is also increasing pressure on the land to accommodate a population that is still rising in the Mt Elgon region and the inherent danger is that this increasing pressure for land will impact negatively on land use, such as a) causing trees to be cut for fuel wood before maturing and b) increase encroachment into the upper protected watersheds c) increased land fragmentation d) increased soil erosion. There is limited knowledge on how to implement Sustainable Land Management (SLM) sustainable forest management (SFM) and climate change mitigation (CCM). There is also limited access to extension services, limited or no innovation in land use management, and no incentives to improve land use practices. Non-application of sustainable land use practices is driven by limited/non-existent practical legislation/laws at both national and District levels. Whereas there are several legislations/laws on SLM and several interventions in place to support SLM, both at national and district levels, degradation of natural resources has continued to be a big challenge. There is also need to identify the gaps hindering/limiting the implementation of the existing legislative interventions in SLM, SFM and CCM. Let alone none existence/weak of community bye-laws on SLM, SFM and CCM, Land tenure issues continues to hinder the furtherance of these practices as well. The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is implementing the project “Integrated Landscape Management for Ecosystem Resilience and Improved Livelihoods in the Mt. Elgon Region” in the districts of Mbale, Bulambuli and Manafa. The overall goal of the project is to empower communities in Mt Elgon to manage their production landscapes in an integrated manner for improved livelihoods and ecosystem resilience. This has not been realised due to gaps in implementation of existing legislation in SLM, SFM and CCM Objective of assignment: - To Identify and analyse gaps in the implementation of SLM, SFM and CCM clauses in the existing national and district legislation;
- Propose appropriate and effective actions to address the identified gaps and challenges.
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