Maziba wetland families told restoration must come with a living, not only a fence
Local leaders say papyrus can return only if households have another way to eat. The missing GCF heifers have made that argument sharper.
In Maziba, wetland restoration is now a livelihoods argument as much as an environment one. Sub-county chairperson Onesmus Mutungye has been telling residents that gardens in the swamp will be pushed back, but that the district must also show what replaces the lost plots. That message landed in the same week investigators named missing heifers from a climate-fund livestock scheme. Families who were promised animals as an alternative to wetland farming are asking a straight question: restoration for whom? Joy FM walked the edge of the papyrus with listeners who still cut stems for mats and who still plant potatoes on drained ground when the rains allow. They are not against the swamp coming back. They are against being left with a boundary marker and no income. _Joy FM Newsroom, Kabale, 11 August 2026._