Bubembe Island

Last updated
One of the Islands found in Lake Victoria. Victoria Lake.JPG
One of the Islands found in Lake Victoria.

Bubembe Island is an island in Lake Victoria inside the country of Uganda. In the religion of the Buganda people, it is the home of the temple of Mukasa.

Contents

Overview

A View of A Small Village on an island on Lake Victoria A View of A Small Village on an island on Lake Victoria.jpg
A View of A Small Village on an island on Lake Victoria

Bubembe Island is one of 84 islands in Lake Victoria known as the Ssese Islands. The islands belong to the Kalangala District and lie in the north-western section of Lake Victoria. Many of the 84 islands are uninhabited except for a few fishermen, and the forests and swamps around some of the coasts make the islands a good habitat for birds, including whale-headed stork, herons, geese, grey parrot, kingfishers, and fish eagles. The virtually virgin land is rich in plant life, and many, of the species are reportedly new to botanists.

Culture

In the religion of the Buganda people, Bubembe Island is the home of the temple of Mukasa.

Wildlife

An Island in Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria view.png
An Island in Lake Victoria.

The wildlife on the islands includes hippopotamus and crocodile, found near the shores. Waterbuck roam freely, as does the shy sitatunga antelope. In the forested areas, chimpanzees and monkeys swing from the trees. Vervet monkey, colobus monkey, a prolific variety of water and forest birds including hornbill, touraco, flycatcher, weaver, fish eagle, paradise flycatcher, colourful butterflies are common.

Environmental destruction

Recently, the vegetable oil producer Bidco has started to bulldoze parts of the island to set up monocultures of oil palm, used for cosmetics and biofuels. After violent protests, the Ugandan government has stopped further destruction for the moment, but the unique biosphere is currently under serious threat. [1]

Access

Bubembe island is a 9-hour steamer trip from Port Bell, or 45 minutes by the local ferry from Bukakata. From Bugala Island it is a 3-hour boat ride to Bukasa Island or 2 hours to Bubembe.

Notes

  1. Uganda acts to save rainforests "Al Jazeera English - News - Uganda Acts to Save Rainforests". Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2007-05-26.

0°25′S32°18′E / 0.417°S 32.300°E / -0.417; 32.300


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uganda</span> Country in East Africa

Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region, it lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied equatorial climate. As of 2024, it had a population of around 49 million, of which 8.5 million live in the capital and largest city, Kampala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buganda</span> Bantu kingdom in central Uganda

Buganda is a Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala. The 14 million Baganda make up the largest Ugandan region, representing approximately 16% of Uganda's population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Great Lakes</span> Series of lakes in the Rift Valley

The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the third-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth; Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest freshwater lake by area; and Lake Turkana, the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. Collectively, they contain 31,000 km3 (7,400 cu mi) of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes. This total constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity, and 10% of the world's fish species live in this region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hannington</span> 19th-century English Anglican missionary and saint

James Hannington was an English Anglican missionary and martyr. He was the first Anglican bishop of East Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ssese Islands</span>

The Ssese Islands are an archipelago of eighty-four islands in the northwestern part of Lake Nalubaale in Uganda. The islands are coterminous with the Kalangala District in southern Central Uganda, which does not have any territory on mainland Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukono District</span> District in Central Region of Uganda, Uganda

Mukono is one of the districts in the Central Region of Uganda. The town of Mukono serves as the district headquarters and is home to the district's main commercial center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buvuma Island</span>

Buvuma Island is the largest island in the Buvuma Islands chain, in Lake Victoria in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African fish eagle</span> Species of bird

The African fish eagle or the African sea eagle is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. As a result of its large range, it is known in many languages. Examples of names include: Vis Arend in Afrikaans, nkwazi in Chewa, aigle pêcheur in French, hungwe in Shona, inkwazi in isiZulu, and ntšhu in Northern Sotho. This species may resemble the bald eagle in appearance; though related, the two species occur on different continents, with the bald eagle being resident in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uganda Martyrs</span> 19th-century group of Christian martyrs

The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albertine Rift montane forests</span> Ecoregion in east-central Africa

The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to distinct Afromontane forests with high biodiversity.

Articles related to Uganda include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabira Forest</span>

The Mabira Forest is a rainforest area covering about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) in Uganda, located in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja. It has been protected as Mabira Forest Reserve since 1932. It is home for many endangered species like the primate Lophocebus ugandae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Uganda</span> Endemic flora and fauna

The wildlife of Uganda is composed of its flora and fauna. Uganda has a wide variety of different habitats, including mountains, hills, tropical rainforest, woodland, freshwater lakes, swamps and savanna with scattered clumps of trees. The country has a biodiverse flora and fauna reflecting this range of habitats and is known for its primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. There are ten national parks and thirteen wildlife reserves; some 345 species of mammal and 1020 species of bird have been recorded in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leuser Ecosystem</span>

The Leuser Ecosystem is an area of forest located in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Covering more than 2.6 million hectares it is one of the richest expanses of tropical rain forest in Southeast Asia and is the last place on earth where the Sumatran elephant, rhino, tiger and orangutan are found within one area. It has one of the world's richest yet least-known forest systems, and its vegetation is an important source of Earth's oxygen. Leuser also possesses more lowland rainforest than the rest of Sumatra combined and supports some of the last viable populations of tiger, rhino, orangutan and elephant.

Mengo is a hill in Rubaga Division, Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The name also applies to the neighborhood on that hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Wamala</span> Lake in Uganda

Lake Wamala is a freshwater lake in Uganda. Its wetlands contain endangered species of birds and animals including the sitatunga. The lake is of traditional and cultural significance to the people of Buganda in Central Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munyonyo</span> Place in Central Region of Uganda, Uganda

Munyonyo is an area on the northern shores of Lake Victoria and part of the metropolitan area of Kampala, in Makindye Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sezibwa River</span> River in Uganda

The Sezibwa River is a river in Central Uganda, in East Africa. The name is derived from the Luganda phrase "sizibwa kkubo", which translates into "my path cannot be blocked".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buikwe District</span> District in Central Uganda, Uganda

Buikwe District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Buikwe, where the district headquarters are located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mpanga Central Forest Reserve</span> Forest in Uganda

The Mpanga Central Forest Reserve is a Forest Reserve in Uganda. It is a small patch of natural equatorial rainforest covering 453 hectares. It is situated in Mpigi District, Mpambire, 37 km southwest of Kampala City. Onsite is Mpanga Forest Resort managed by Global Afric Safaris since 2018.