GNV News, April 26, 2026

In recent years, climate change has been causing Africa’s glaciers to disappear at a rate that exceeds the global average. In the Rwenzori Mountains on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 90% of the glaciers have already melted since 1906, and some scientists predict that the remaining ice will completely vanish within the next 10 years.

The disappearance of the glaciers is having serious consequences. In the river systems that about 5 million people living at the foot of the mountains depend on, the rate of glacier melt now exceeds the rate at which rainfall freezes, and as the glaciers shrink, dry-season water shortages are worsening. Moreover, changes in water cycle patterns are increasing both the frequency and intensity of floods. In addition to floods, deforestation driven by the expansion of agriculture is accelerating soil degradation. The loss of glaciers not only threatens unique ecosystems and people’s livelihoods, but also means the loss of several thousand years of climate data trapped in the ice. This deprives us of a crucial source of information needed to analyze past climates and predict future climate change, and it also hinders the construction of climate models for the entire planet.

Amid this crisis, attention is turning to the traditional wisdom of Indigenous peoples in Uganda. Local communities once followed rules that required planting trees near their homes to prevent soil from washing down into valleys and to shield houses from strong winds. The dense root systems of native trees also make them well suited for flood management. Today, however, mining and agriculture are taking place even in areas that were once sacred, and the soil is deteriorating. As glaciers rapidly disappear under climate change, these traditional Indigenous techniques and ways of relating to the environment are being re-evaluated as key to a sustainable future.

Learn more about glacier retreat in other regions → “Mongolia’s Glaciers: Shrinking at a Record Pace”

Learn more about the current state of climate change → “The Reality of Exceeding 1.5°C: Global Climate Issues, Responses, and Japanese Media Coverage”

Learn more about the situation in Uganda → “Uganda: A Regime That Has Continued for 40 Years”

Glacier at the summit of the Rwenzori Mountains (Photo: Matteo Leoni / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0])