Lutembe Bay is located 25 km south of Kampala, the Capital City of Uganda. The Bay is a secluded backwater at the mouth of Lake Victoria’s Murchison Bay, between Kampala and Entebbe.  Lutembe bay is among the wetlands in Uganda that have been gazetted by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a Ramsar site which is a wetland on the edge of Lake Victoria.

Lutembe Bay is Important to Europe’s Wildlife

The white winged black terns begin arriving in Uganda from Europe starting September and October annually and leave from February and March.

Every year, these birds come with their young-ones hatched in the season before. And as they return to Europe, they leave behind the hatchling so that they can practice breeding. During that period their white far changes to a completely black color – the change of their color is known as breeding – plumage. Once they are ready, these black ones fly to Europe, breed and later return to Lutembe when they have developed white far. For several centuries this has been their cycle.

Lutembe Bay is now a globally important site for the conservation of these species. Destroying the bay means condemning the entire population of the white-winged black tern and half the global population of the gull-billed tern.

The global importance of the site does not lie in the occurrence of the species alone. Lutembe Bay is a must-visit site for most tourists coming into Uganda, especially birdwatchers. Nature Uganda, the Uganda Bird Guides Club, the Uganda Tourism Board, and a local interest group in Lutembe have all been promoting the site as important for eco-tourism. The site is now known to many visitors interested in eco-tourism, having made Lutembe Beach which had lain in ruin for a long time, one of the popular weekend spots around Kampala. Thus it is a great investment spot.