UGANDA Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has conducted a Wildlife Management sensitization workshop with communities of Buwaya in Mpigi district to guard against activities that threaten aviation safety.
The Authority has played a crucial role in wildlife management at Entebbe International Airport, focusing on mitigating bird strikes and other wildlife hazards to ensure aviation safety.
Speaking at the opening of the One-day workshop, the Director Airports & Aviation Security, Alhajj Eng. Sooma Ayub urged residents to guard against poor garbage disposal and farming methods within 13km of the airport environment to avoid bird strikes that may cause damage to aircraft engines and a financial loss to both the airline and airport management.
Sooma said that UCAA fronts the safety of passengers and equipment and therefore emphasize safe passenger facilitations and travels through Entebbe International Airport.
“Wildlife management is key to our safety and therefore our airport safety should be enhanced with communities being involved to guard against bird strikes” he said.
Sooma added to say “When you keep your compound clean and manage your waste, you aren’t just cleaning your home—you are protecting a plane in the sky”.
The UCAA Principal Wildlife Management Ms Gloria K Bitebekezi urged the communities to adopt a four-way approach to wildlife management that includes, the community approach, habitant management, grass cutting and controlled dumping of garbage within the flight path.
Bitebekezi said that the airport wildlife management team has made progress in controlling bird strikes by use of frequent runway sweeps, use of laser beam bird repellants, bird distress calls, data management & use of reports and ecological studies.
UCAA has employed Nature Uganda to carry out an ecological study of the bird species around the airport, wildlife attractions and modern innovative methods to guard against bird strikes. The study has focused on the emerging unknown bird species, land use & development and climate change.
The area local council leaders pledged to continue with the community monitoring, sensitizations, and improvement in the community hygiene.
The workshop was attended by the fishermen, residents, area local leaders, health, and sanitation inspectors from Buwaya Town Council (BTC), UCAA Air Traffic Control and Public Affairs departments.
UCAA is implementing a comprehensive wildlife hazard mitigation program to address the critical threat of bird ingestion into aircraft engines at Entebbe International Airport.
This strategy aims to align community land-use practices within a 13km radius of the airport with international aviation safety standards to reduce catastrophic mechanical failure risks.
UCAA is implementing a technical approach that involves habitat modification, exclusionary tactics, and a data-driven ecological research is being deployed to minimize hazardous attractants.
