On Saturday, 14th May 2011, the World commemorated World Migratory Birds Day under the theme “Land use changes from a bird's eye view”. This was initiated in 2006 as an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. On the second weekend of May every year, people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals and bird watching excursions to celebrate it under a specific theme.

NatureUganda highlighted the importance of bird migration with a nature walk and boat trip around Lutembe Bay in Wakiso District. Lutembe Bay is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, 16kms from Kampala along Entebbe Road. The visit highlighted the impacts of human activities on migratory birds, the lake and our general environment. The walk attracted fifteen members and recorded 85 species including Palearctic migrants and intra-African migrants.

Bird migration is one of the world’s most extraordinary actions with millions of birds travelling thousands of miles only to make that same journey a few months later. Birds migrate for various reasons to improve their chances of survival by escaping from harsh weather. This applies both to Palearctic and intra-African migrations like Terns, Gulls and Waders which breed in Northern Europe and escape the cruel winters to visit Africa, while the Blue Swallow which breeds in Southern Africa spends the summer months in Uganda around the northern shores of Lake Victoria.This is an example of intra-African migration.

Birds have a unique perspective when migrating thousands of kilometers across entire continents covering different climates and landscapes. This unrivalled view enables them to notice the dramatic changes which are currently threatening many of our planet’s ecosystems. Looking at the world's changing landscapes from a "bird's eye view" is a valuable perspective and can help reveal humankind's dramatic impact on the global environment. Through their dependence on many habitats along their migrations, birds feel the effects of environmental changes first before other animal species and this make them key indicators for the health of the environment.

Lutembe Bay is one of 30 Important Bird Area (IBAs) in Uganda due to its global, regional and local importance on a biodiversity scale. It was designated as a Ramsar site on 15th September 2006 (Ramsar site no 1637). Regular waterfowl counts show a total of 108 water bird species and of these 26 are Palearctic migrants. Counts of over 2,000,000 have been recorded on two occasions in December 1999 and March 2000 while over 1,000,000 were counted in March 2003. These were predominantly made up of Palearctic wintering Gulls, Terns and Waders but large numbers of Garganey are also being recorded. Of particular interest are breeding records of Saddle-billed Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis while in the papyrus the globally threatened Papyrus Gonolek Laniarius mufumbiri is often heard and undoubtedly breeds.

Major problems for the site are due to its close proximity to the capital- Kampala and its burgeoning population that the development of surrounding land for homes and leisure activities may impact on the site, while the extraction of sand and quarry stone is having a negative effect. The proliferation of five horticultural flower farms around the bay are now reclaiming and degrading the swamp while agro-chemicals have been detected in the water of the lagoon. This is of serious concern to the ecological value to the site and may damage it beyond repair. Throughout the years, numerous influences have evolved to alter the nature of this site, these have been plotted and all contribute to a negative value, it is thought that 25% of the open water/marsh has been lost.

We would like to thank all the members who joined us when we were commemorating the WMB Day, and call upon the public to join us in the struggle of nature conservation by participating in such events.