Ndyakira Amooti

Ndyakira Ntamuhiira Amooti (1955/1956 – 25 August 1999) was a Ugandan children's writer, journalist and environmentalist, awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honour and winner of the Goldman Environment Prize.[1]

Sir. Ndyakira Amooti
Born1955/1956
Died25 August 1999
Kampala, Uganda
NationalityUgandan
OccupationJournalist, children's writer
Known forEnvironmental journalism

Life and career

Amooti worked as a journalist for the Kampala newspaper The New Vision from 1986. He lived in a village in the Ibanda District. He reported on various environmental issues, such as endangered mountain gorillas, the forests of Bwindi, and illegal mining and poaching. He also called attention to the business of smuggling of rare animals for the purpose of exposition or laboratory experiments, in particular endangered chimpanzees and parrots.[2] In 1993, he was awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honour of the United Nations Environment Programme.[3][4] He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996.[2] He later focused on forest protection and on the environment of Lake Victoria.[2]

He published the children's book What a Country Without Animals! in 1998,[5] and has also published the books What a Country Without Birds, What a Country Without Grasslands, and What a Country Without Wetlands. The books are about environmental issues, written for children from nine to twelve years old, and the story's principal character is the young man "Kazoora".

Amooti died from leukemia in 1999, 43 years old.[6] In accordance with his wishes, he was buried without a coffin, with his body being wrapped in a palm-leaf mat.[7][8]

He is regarded as a pioneer in the awareness of environmental issues in Uganda.[9] At the World Wetlands Day in 2008, Amooti was honored with a memorial lecture.[9]

Selected works
Children's books
  • What a Country Without Animals
  • What a Country Without Birds
  • What a Country Without Grasslands
  • What a Country Without Wetlands

References
  1. "Alphabetical list of recipients". Goldman Environmental Prize. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  2. "Africa 1996. Ndyakira Amooti. Wildlife & Endangered Species". Goldman Environmental Prize. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  3. "Global 500 Forum". United Nations Environment Programme. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  4. "Adult Award Winner in 1993: Ndyakira Ntamuhirra Amooti (d. 1999)". United Nations Environment Programme. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  5. "Books authored by Ndyakira Amooti". African Book Collective. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  6. Namutebi, Joyce (26 August 1999). "Uganda: Ndyakira Amooti Dies Of Leukemia". AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 18 February 2013. The New Vision veteran environmental reporter, wildlife conservationist and international award winner, Sir Ndyakira Ntamuhiira Amooti, 43, has died.
  7. "Uganda: Sir Ndyakira Amooti Laid To Rest At His Ancestral Home". New Vision. Allafrica.com. 29 August 1999. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  8. Mapesa, Moses (27 January 2006). "Concrete graves a hazard to us all". New Vision. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  9. UGANDA'S MOVERS AND SHAKERS. New Vision, Thursday, May 20, 2012-"Commemorating World Wetlands Day in Uganda" (PDF). Ministry of Water and Environment. 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2010.

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