Rwanda and Uganda have signed a deal that will enable them collectively conserve the environment along the two countries’ borders.This was announced last week after a meeting between Uganda’s minister for Water and Environment, Prof Ephraim Kamuntu and Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s Minister of Natural Resources in Kigali.The meeting discussed possible joint projects that could be fast tracked along the borders.In an interview with The New Times, Kamuntu said they agreed to cooperate in different areas including fighting hyacinth on waters along the borders, conservation of mountain ranges shared by two countries as well other ecological systems.The Presidents of the two countries had earlier directed the ministers to make a comprehensive study on rainfall patterns and climate change that would give a clear framework on how to fight challenges related to climate change."There are ecological endowments which cut across borders; wetlands and rivers and mountains; we need to manage these resources jointly and we have been discussing the way forward. It’s not a choice. It’s imperative we must implement the decision because they are of great benefit to our people,” Kamuntu said.Other projects to be covered by the joint deal are irrigation, hydro power projects as well as restoration of waters, according to Kamuntu.The two countries are also members of Nile Basin Initiative and Lake Victoria Commission, both aimed at coordinating mutual cooperation and sustainable developments on the resources.The ministers called for a need to carry out afforestation on all mountain ranges surrounding the two countries as well as conducting studies on how best to eliminate the water hyacinth.Minister Kamanzi said technical teams should immediately identify the long and short term projects that should be executed expeditiously."We still have the challenges of deforestation among others; we need to cooperate for the benefit of our people. We must fight soil erosion by planting trees on the mountain ranges. Our technical team should sit down and specify the areas of short and long term projects,” he said.Water hyacinth, the weed which once choked Africa’s greatest lake waters, threatening the lives of other organisms and cutting production of fish has for years frustrated effective utilisation of waters in the region especially on Lake Victoria.Besides, the plants impede water flow, creating abundant habitat for disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes. The weed can also sap oxygen from the water until it creates a ‘dead zone’ where plants and animals can no longer survive.