TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION
APPROVAL ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Background to the study 1
1.3 Statement of the problem 9
1.4 Purpose of the study 10
1.5 Objectives of the study 10
1.5.1. General Objective 10
1.5.2. Specific Objectives 10
1.6 Research questions 10
1.7 Scope of the study 11
1.7.1. Content scope 11
1.7.2. Geographical scope 11
1.7.3. Time scope 12
1.8. Significance of the study 12
1.9 Conceptual Framework 13
1.10. Definition of key terms 14
CHAPTER TWO 16
LITERATURE REVIEW 16
2.0 Introduction 16
2.1 The role of the national policy for the conservation of wetlands and their management 16
2.2. The challenges faced by the national policy for the conservation of wetland in wetland
management 18
2.3 The solutions to the challenges faced by the national policy for the conservation of wetlands
in wetland management 19
CHAPTER THREE 22
METHODOLOGY 22
3.1 Introduction 22
3.2 Research design 22
3.3 Study population 22
3.4 Sample size 23
3.5 Methods of Data collection 24
3.6 Validity and Reliability of the research instrument 24
v~
3.7 Ethical Considerations 25
3.8 Limitations of the study 26
CHAPTER FOUR 27
DATA PRESENTATION, fNTERPRETATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS 27
4.0 Overview 27
4.1. Social Demographic characteristics of respondents 27
4.1.1 Distribution of respondents according to Gender 27
4.1.2 Distribution of respondents according to age 28
4.1.3 Distribution of respondents according to academic background 29
4.1.4 Distribution of respondents according to marital status 29
4.2 The role of the National policy for the conservation and management of wetlands in 30
4.3 The Challenges faced by the National policy for the conservation and management of
wetlands in wetland conservation 34
4.4 The Solutions to the challenges faced by the National policy for the National policy for the
conservation and management of wetlands in wetland conservation 36
CHAPTER FIVE 39
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 39
5.0 Overview 39
5.1 Summary of findings 39
5.1.1 Summary of the Social Demographic characteristics of the respondents 39
5.1.2 Summary of the roles ofNational Policy for the conservation and Management of 40
5.1.3 Summary of the challenges faced by National Policy for the conservation and Management
of wetlands in wetland conservation 41
5.1.4 Summary of the solutions to the challenges faced by the National Policy for the
conservation and management of wetlands in wetland conservation 42
5.2 Conclusions 43
5.2.1 Social Demographic Characteristics of the respondents 43
5.2.2 The role of national policy for the Conservation and Management of wetlands in wetland
conservation 43
5.2.3 The challenges faced by the National Policy for the conservation and management of
wetlands 44
5.2.4 The solutions to the challenges faced by National Policy for the conservation and
management of wetlands 44
5.3 Recommendations 44
5.4 Area of further study 46
REFERENCES 48
APPENDIX A: RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE 52
Appendix B: Table for Determining Sample Size from a Given Population 55
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Li Introduction This research explored environmental policy as the independent variable (IV) and management as the dependent variable (DV) in Kabale district. This chapter covered the background to the study, the statement of the problem, the general objective of the study, the specific objectives of the study, the research questions, the hypothesis, significance of the study, justification of the study, scope of the study, and operational definitions. 1.2 Background to the study Wetland ecosystems are declining globally. Between 1993 and 2007, the global acreage of wetlands decreased by 6 % (Prigent et al. 2012). In the conterminous U.s., 53 % of wetland acreage has been lost since the early 1900s, with some states (e.g., California, Arkansas, Illinois) experiencing >90 % loss (Mitsch and Gosselink 2000). Continental estimates of degraded wetland acreage do not exist; however, it is reasonable to assume that most remaining wetlands are impacted to some degree by human land use. The reduction in wetland acreage and quality has caused population declines in many wetland-dependent taxa. For example, freshwater turtles and amphibians are the most imperiled vertebrate taxa in the world (Gibbons et al. 2000; Stuart et al. 2004). In the developed world like USA, Wetlands are managed differently for different reasons. In some cases their conservation values may be of high priority, while in others they may be managed to provide important monitoring information. Many landholders are also interested in managing wetlands on their property as part of their production systems, while others might be more interested in rehabilitation (Prigent et al. 2012)