The Environment in Uganda: an Ethical and Theological Assessment of Theconservation-preservation Controversy

Developing countries have inherited restrictivecolonial policies regarding environmental protection. This is due to the imbalance in nature brought aboutby the insatiable demand and consumption of naturalresources especially from the developed economies. People in developing countries value nature as it isthe only source of their livelihood. Hence therestrictive policy creates conflicting relationsbetween them and the wild as demand and consumptionof basic raw materials keep rising. This work is an ethical and theological assessment ofsuch unjust policies in Uganda. For the sake ofsustainability, actual resource users, should be thebeneficially of any policy formulation regardingnatural resource use. Forest, wildlife and wetlandmanagement policies should therefore stress theaspect of collaborative management and resourcesharing. Hence conservation rather than preservationpolicies should be adopted. This work is intended to inspire policy makers, environmental managers, donor agencies, and scholarsboth at national and international levels. It is alsoa contribution towards the efforts of conservationmovements such as the Netzkraft Movement.