SDG 15: Life on Land
Life on land from a safety, health and environment perspective is easy. We need all three to be working together.
Use of pesticides, in higher and higher concentrations is imminent if you read all the information around. Just check with the University of Google. Now you may smile or even laugh, but access to the internet has changed how we can research on any topic we can think of. We just need to be careful about the source!!!
For us to grow economically, morally and socially, we need to have a good environment – that is one of the hardest things as we need people to change their behaviours. Sticks and empty bottles are still being thrown from cars, taxis and buses as they move around the country.
Our infrastructure development is based on land, but discarded waste, oil and bitumen leaks spoil what is known as the ‘Pearl of Africa’. These wastes are not healthy and provide a nice ecosystem for vectors that transmit a myriad of diseases.
Health is needed if we want growth and development, take for instance oil and gas in the Albertine region. If we damage the environment it will have devastating effects on income, food supply, poverty levels in that region and beyond. People will not be healthy and will not be safe. Being safe is much more than wearing PPE, it is about being able to sleep at night and not worry about night visitors. Yes, it is linked with security, but again the two are intrinsically linked. Feeling safe in whatever we do is something we should fight for. Not with physical violence, but holding people accountable for their actions.
Safety and health are desperately required for us to use the land in a sustainable way, giving farmers safety and health advice on how to manage pesticides, how to be protective of themselves and others when manual handling farm materials and equipment. Road construction needs advice on confined spaces, working at height, excavations, use of machinery.
There are many ways that we can keep the land from degradation, however, it needs people to see the importance.
Covid-19 if research is correct is a Zoonotic disease [i.e. It is transferred from animals to humans]; in this case bats. Bats are themselves a very useful species to man, but why are we invading their habitat? Why do we want to cut down all the forests to build houses and plant a few crops, when it is destroying the environment and putting us all in danger? The number of hurricanes, typhoons, is increasing. The protective barriers of coral reefs are dying; this buffer will expose the land to devastating loss and many fatalities.
What we do in Uganda and what other countries do affects us all. If we look at our ecological footprint, today we already need 2.5 earths to satisfy us and we only have 1. Equate that with what we will need in the future.
Can you step up and make a difference, if yes contact EISMAT at
info@eismat.ac.ug/ 0705 336 066.
