00:00On a misty morning in western Uganda, a group of school children are ferried across the still waters of Lake Bunyonyi.
00:08They make this journey every day to reach Wama Primary and Lake Bunyonyi Secondary Schools, both located on one of the lake's 29 islands.
00:19This morning, the secondary school students have a special session with a head teacher in what is more of a motivational talk.
00:26We become responsible, being aware of how we should keep our environment clean with the skills of improved agriculture.
00:39Due to the lake's unique ecological conditions, including the low oxygen levels, there's no viable commercial fishing here.
00:48Agriculture remains the primary livelihood, but this puts growing pressure on the lake's fragile ecosystem.
00:54While nearby hillsides are being deforested, pesticides and chemical fertilizers used on the resulting farmland are then washed into the lake by rainfall.
01:07Head teacher Nicholas Kajomba wants his students to be the front line of change.
01:12Today's lesson explores an innovative kind of fertilizer, human urine, which is a natural source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients.
01:21Prolonged use of artificial fertilizers, reduced soil exhaustion, poor crop yield, so it's bad.
01:33If I'm comparing, natural fertilizers is good, quite good.
01:39The headmaster is especially proud of one former student and member of the school's environment and agriculture club.
01:46Dickens in Babazi went on to start a small mushroom project, turning discarded plastic into growing containers, giving waste a new purpose.
01:57And using livestock waste products for compositing and natural manure, he sets an example for other farmers to adopt organic and sustainable practices.
02:06I found that it's very difficult for me to tell my fellow community members to do what I'm telling them, yet I'm not practicing it.
02:17So when they are seeing me practicing, they can also do it rather than just telling them.
02:24Covering an area of about 60 square kilometers, Lake Bunyonyi was formed nearly 10,000 years ago.
02:31When volcanic lava blocked the flow over River Valley, over time, locals have not only cut down large areas of forest.
02:40They have turned wetlands that regulated water flow into farmland.
02:45Many of the farmers want state compensation before they move elsewhere.
02:50We need the president to intervene and make a firm decision.
02:54Otherwise, we cannot just leave our land.
02:57For over a decade, conservationists have called for Lake Bunyonyi to be named a Ramza site, a designation for wetlands of international importance.
03:10It is a vital refuge for biodiversity and home to endangered species like Uganda's national bird, the grey-crowned crane.
03:19We have lost 85% of the grey-crowned crane in the last 40 years in Uganda.
03:27So if you remove one species, you cause the collapse of the other ecosystem services.
03:34That's why in conservation, we conserve ecosystems.
03:38But Nicholas Kajumba isn't waiting for the rest of the world to act.
03:45The headmaster has set up a partnership with Silas Nomuesigwa, a local ecotourism pioneer.
03:52Nomuesigwa runs a luxury lodge and reinvests profits in environmental and commentary projects.
03:59He also builds a school's ecosystem, a water-saving sanitation system that separates urine and solid waste, turning it into compost and fertilizer.
04:11And on the lodges' grounds, he grows crops and keeps bees, producing food and honey for his guests.
04:18Once we had to put much more like a demo farm, that people can see it, they can learn from it.
04:26And not only that, but they can touch and feel it.
04:30You know, when you just, you know, theory, in most cases, does not actually work.
04:37Back at the school, some of the food for the students' meals comes from the gardens they themselves helped to tend.
04:43So they see the full cycle, from food to waste, waste to garden, and eventually back to their plates.
04:52Younger people, they still have the anxiety of learning new information.
04:59So when we teach them when they are young, they are able to grasp what I've taught them in their heads.
05:07Despite the transformative education, there has been unease among some parents.
05:12The lake has a history of boating accidents, and they fear for their children's safety.
05:20The headmaster has responded by introducing mandatory swimming lessons, which also help to boost confidence.
05:27Challenges strengthen students, he says, by preparing them to overcome greater obstacles,
05:33even those as demanding as climate change mitigation.
