ENTEBBE — Uganda ranks among the top ten most biodiverse countries globally. More than half of Africa’s bird species, some 1,020, can be found in the country, along with 13 primate species. Uganda is home to over 400 mountain gorillas out of a global population of around 1,063, as well as nearly 5,0000 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
But these species face grave threats from human activities raging from encroachment, poaching fuelled by illicit wildlife trade.
Speaking during the World Wildlife Day celebrations on Thursday at the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) in Entebbe, the Vice President said that government is committed to promote tourism through wildlife protection as a key driver in the social economic transformation of the country and will continue to implement numerous initiatives to save the limping biodiversity.
Alupo said that the 1995 constitution well articulates the need to protect wildlife for the benefit of all Ugandans under objectives of state policies and that government has as well introduced several laws to protect the sector.
“We shall continue to invest resources in the sector as government” she said, emphasizing that there is an improved budget each year allocated for marketing and promoting protected areas and the Tourism Ministry of Uganda.
Alupo also highlighted that there is need to urgently hold poaching, address human wildlife conflict and encroachment on protected areas plus mitigating climate change effects and other factors likely to constrain the industry growth if we are to sustainably get the benefits from Wildlife.
On his part, the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Tom Butime while Uganda is among the countries on the continent that has all the African traditionally known big five animals, its incredibly blessed at the moment with additional big five animals that include Giraffes, Cheaters, Chimpanzees, Mount Gorillas and the Hippos which going forward will make it to the “Big Ten” only found in Uganda.
Butime said that in order to eliminate and reduce threats to these many species and fauna, the Ministry has spearheaded formulation of Uganda Wildlife Policy of 2015, the Tourism Policy of 2015 and also strengthened the legal and institutional framework of the Uganda Wildlife Act 2019 through review and subsequent inactimate.
“I call upon all partners and stake holders to continue working and supporting the Tourism Ministry for it to enhance protection and sustainable utilization of Wildlife resources” he added.
The Minister on this celebrations also handed over certificates and prizes to the winners of the World Wildlife Day 2022 conservation competitions that included Essay writing, poetry, quiz and fine art categories.
The Executive Director of UWEC Dr. James Musinguzi said that the center in regards to the theme has succeeded in breeding major species like lions, carrying out conservation education, rescuing and rehabilitating Wildlife plus also doing numerous efforts in recreation.
According BIODEV2030 report by World Wide Fund for Nature Uganda Country Office (WWF-UCO), habitat loss is majorly facilitated by deforestation and industrial agriculture and that those are the major problems for Uganda’s great apes.
The report highlights that between 1900 and 2012, the country’s forest cover decreased from 121,000 square kilometers (46,700 square miles) to just 29,700 square kilometers (11,500 square miles).
The National Forestry Authority (NFA) estimates that more than 730 square kilometers (280 square miles) of private forest are cleared every year across the country, and more than 70 square kilometers (27 square miles) of protected forest reserves are destroyed annually for timber and charcoal.
Uganda’s rapid population growth rate of 3 percent a year also means that deforestation is likely to continue.
In addition to habitat loss, chimps in Uganda are threatened by hunting. While most ethnic groups in Uganda have not historically eaten apes, due to cultural taboos, a recent study conducted by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU), an NGO, found that population growth and changing demographics have put apes in the crosshairs.
According to the CCFU, in some communities in the Bunyoro and Rwenzori subregions, home to national parks that are key habitats for great apes, up to 80 percent of the inhabitants are migrants, mostly from neighboring countries like Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As newcomers searching for food, charcoal and land to cultivate and build on, these migrants are more likely than established local populations to cut down trees and encroach on forests
Even where apes are not specifically targeted by hunters, the demand for bushmeat takes a toll, since chimps, particularly younger or smaller individuals, are often killed or maimed by traps set for antelopes and other forest animals.
Although snare hunting is illegal, studies have found that in some parts of Uganda, up to one-third of chimpanzees have been injured by snares.
Beyond punishing those who violate the law, Mr. David Duli, the WWF Uganda Country Director says there should be plans to engage and educate communities and future generations about the importance of protecting wildlife.
Duli hopes that the community would understand the dangers of habitat destruction threatening wildlife across the country.
“The major problem we have now is habitat destruction. We need to engage frontier communities and everyone in the country to ensure that they see conservation as something [that’s] part of them,” he said.
Duli also believes that instilling in communities a reverence for wildlife is key to conservation efforts.
