|United Nations University - Work in Progress Newsletter -
Volume 12, Number 1, 1989 (UNU, 1989, 12 pages)| By Festus D.K.
Bagoora In the highlands of Uganda - a rugged terrain
characterized by sharply pitched slopes and deep valleys - are
found some of the greatest population densities in East Africa.
This is due to historical factors going back over some
centuries, as well as to the favourable climate and soils of
this tropical, humid and fragile environment. But human
activities in recent years - chiefly increased cultivation on
steep mountainsides - have denuded the land and triggered an
inevitable process of erosion, landslides and other
deterioration of one of the globe's most precious resources: top
soil. This is a sad and familiar story that research on
highland-lowland interactions, by UNU and others, has been
recording, with only minor variations, in many parts of the
world. Repeatedly stressed in these investigations is the need
for improved scientific understanding of the world's highland
ecosyste