It is easy to map any environmental project onto twelve SDGs if you are relaxed about what "contributes to" means. We have tried not to be.
Goal 6 · Primary contribution
Clean water and sanitation
The core of everything we do. Bank and wetland restoration reduces the sediment load reaching Mbarara's water intake, and rainwater harvesting at institutions reduces both abstraction and the bank erosion caused by daily water-carrying paths.
The specific targets we work against
6.3 Improve water quality by reducing pollution and minimising release of hazardous chemicals
Quarterly turbidity monitoring at six points, with a control site. We do not test for chemicals — that needs a laboratory we do not have.
6.6 Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including wetlands and rivers
6.4 km of bank replanted and surviving at twelve months; papyrus rest periods negotiated with households at the wetland margin.
6.b Support local communities in improving water and sanitation management
Buffer agreements negotiated household by household rather than imposed; district environment offices lead site selection.
Judge us on
Turbidity at restored sites against the unrestored control, published quarterly.
Four goals we could claim and do not
Any environmental project can be mapped onto a dozen goals if you are relaxed about what “contributes to” means. These are the ones we could plausibly list, and why we have not.
- 4
Quality education
We train teachers in a handful of schools. That is not an education programme at SDG scale.
- 5
Gender equality
Women lead several of our nursery groups. That is good practice, not a gender equality programme.
- 8
Decent work
We employ a small team properly. Employing people is not an SDG contribution.
- 17
Partnerships
Every organisation works with partners. Claiming SDG 17 for that is padding.
Where our work genuinely lands
| Goal | What we actually do | Honest weight |
|---|---|---|
| 6 — Clean water and sanitation | Bank and wetland restoration reducing sediment load; rainwater harvesting at institutions | Primary. This is the core of the work. |
| 15 — Life on land | Indigenous replanting, papyrus wetland recovery, habitat connectivity toward Lake Mburo | Primary. |
| 1 — No poverty | Livelihood alternatives, nursery income, beekeeping for households giving up wetland plots | Real but modest. We work with hundreds, not thousands. |
| 13 — Climate action | Adaptation planning, tree cover, flood and drought buffering through wetland storage | Adaptation yes. We do not claim meaningful mitigation. |
What we are not claiming
We have seen organisations our size claim contributions to gender equality, quality education, decent work and partnerships from the same set of activities. Our school programme is not an education system, and employing eleven people is not SDG 8. Listing them would make this page longer and less true.
Funders asking for SDG mapping
We are happy to provide a detailed alignment note for a proposal. It will say the same as this page.