Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area
Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area in Uganda is made up of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) and the Mgahinga Gorilla (MGNP) National Parks.
The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The Mgahinga Gorilla National Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
There are no specific references to carbon offsetting projects within the Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area. However, the area's national parks are managed by the Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust, which focuses on promoting biodiversity and wildlife conservation.
Mr Yeremiah Dusebe – Chairperson of United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda
Kisoro Uganda
Email: uobdubatwa@gmail.com¸zaninkapenj21@gmail.com
Phone: +256 (0) 486 430 140
P.O. Box: 169 Plot 3 Bazanyamaso Road
Onyango & Company
Email: info@onyangoadvocates.com
Phone: +256 414 666 242 / 392 003 495 / 701 666 244
The World Wildlife Fund was involved in the early creation of the conservation trust and more recent years has worked in partnership with the International Gorilla Conservation Programme across Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.[1]
Gorilla Doctors provides hands-on medical care to sick and injured mountain gorillas living in the national parks of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Banovich Wildscapes Foundation provided a truck to the ‘Gorilla Doctors/Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project ’ for veterinarian access to Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.[2]
The African Conservation Foundation offers a ‘Mountain Gorilla Conservation Safari’ at $1100 per person.[3]
The African Wildlife Foundation works on local tourism projects, such as the Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, just outside of Bwindi.[4]
Uganda Wildlife Authority
P.O. Box: 3530 Plot 7 Kira Road, Kamwokya Kampala, Uganda
Website: http://www.ugandawildlife.org info@wildlife.go.ug.
Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust
Website: https://bwinditrust.org
Email: bmct@bwinditrust.or
Ugandan Ministry of Environment and Water.
Website: https://www.mwe.go.ug/
Ugandan Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities.
Website: https://www.tourism.go.ug/
The main financing mechanism envisioned by the park stakeholders at the time of its creation was a conservation trust fund. The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Conservation Project was a five-year full-sized Global Environment Facility / World Bank project that was initiated in 1995. The Bwindi Trust was legally established in September 1995 by a Trust Deed under the Uganda Trust Act, and the GEF provided the initial funding of US$4.3 million. The US Government (USAID) provided US$ 890,000 between 1995 and 1997, and thereafter the Government of the Netherlands (DGIS) provided financing of US$ 2.86 million between 1997 and February 2003.[1]
In 1991, the Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Forest Reserves in Uganda were re-gazetted as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Due to the proximity of the two parks and their similar conditions and management challenges, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the government body responsible for national park management, has placed them under a single management unit known as the Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA).
Both parks were established on the ancestral lands of the Batwa, who have relied on the Bwindi, Mgahinga, and Echuya forests for their physical, economic, spiritual, and social sustenance for generations. However, the Batwa were forcibly removed and displaced during the creation of the parks, which occurred without their participation or free, prior, informed consent, and any compensation. As a result of their exclusion from these ancestral forests and the loss of their forest-based livelihoods, many Batwa experience severe isolation, discrimination, and socio-political exclusion. The majority are now landless, and virtually all live in absolute poverty or are trapped in bonded labor.
In August 2021, the Ugandan Constitution acknowledged the violations against the Batwa and recommended that the government take affirmative action to address the dire situation they face.
The Batwa are an Indigenous people with an approximate population of about 6,000. Since the 1930s, successive governments have forcibly displaced and excluded the Batwa from their ancestral lands. The government has failed to recognize the Batwa as Indigenous Peoples, instead categorizing them as a minority and marginalized group. It erroneously views the Batwa as migrants from the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Due to fortress conservation policies surrounding Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks, the Batwa are denied access to their ancestral forest lands, which they historically used as burial grounds, places of worship, and sources of sustenance. The government contends that the Batwa were compensated for leaving the forest; however, this position is disputed by the Batwa themselves. As a result of their displacement, the Batwa are increasingly vulnerable to diseases due to a lack of access to medicinal herbs, and their language and customs face the threat of extinction. They have limited access to food and often rely on bonded labor—primarily in construction and waste disposal—from other communities for income.
In 2017, a Batwa man faced up to five years in prison for hunting a small antelope within Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. His bail was set at nearly $1,600, while most Batwa earn less than one US dollar per day for their labor. According to Survival International, one Batwa community member reported on the militarized violence associated with fortress conservation in the Bwindi and Mgahinga protected areas: “One day, we were in the forest when we saw people coming with machine guns, and they told us to get out of the forest. We were very scared, so we started to run, not knowing where to go, and some of us disappeared. They either died or went somewhere we didn’t know. As a result of the eviction, everybody is now scattered.” In 2001, it was reported that one Batwa was shot by park guards for entering Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. [1]
The construction of the Nteko-Buhoma road, which connects the Kisoro and Kanungu districts, began in 2021. The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) chose a route through Bwindi National Park as a shortcut, as the previous road passed through the international boundary with the Democratic Republic of Congo. A budget of 80 million Ugandan Shillings has been allocated for the construction of this shortcut road.
President Museveni pledged to construct the Nteko-Buhoma road during his 2016 campaign, responding to requests from residents in Kanungu District. Residents reported that they were traveling between 100 km and 270 km to access the neighboring district, expressing that a shortcut could save them time and resources. However, Mr. Nelson Guma, the Bwindi National Park Conservation Manager, opposed the road’s construction, citing an Environmental Impact Assessment that indicated a negative impact on the existing ecosystems and overall environment.
Relevant Ugandan Legislation
Constitution of Uganda 1995
Uganda Wildlife Act 2000
National Environment Act 2000
Local Government Act 1997
Land Act 1998
Forest and Tree Planting Act 2003
Uganda Wildlife Policy 1999
(All laws and case laws in Uganda may be accessed through the search engine www.ulii.org.)
The case, brought before the Uganda Constitutional Court by the Uganda Batwa Development Organization (UOBDU) on February 19, 2021, recognized the Batwa as a forest-dwelling community and affirmed that the original owners of Bwindi Forest National Park were never compensated for their displacement and loss of land. The court ruled in favor of affirmative action for the Batwa and referred the matter to the High Court to determine the specific measures of affirmative action that should be offered to the Batwa people. The case has yet to be scheduled for a hearing and determination.
https://www.bwindiimpenetrablenationalpark.com/conservation
https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf-fy23-annual-report.pdf
https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00M91R.pdf
https://ulii.org/akn/ug/judgment/ugcc/2021/25/eng@2021-08-19
https://www.gefieo.org/sites/default/files/documents/ie-td07-bwindi-mgahinga-parks.pdf
https://www.forestpeoples.org/en/press-release/2021/batwa-uganda-conservation
https://www.wwf.mg/en/?280331/Conserving-Ugandas-rich-biodiversity
https://www.wildscapesfoundation.org/our-work/mountain-gorilla-veterinary-project
https://africanconservation.org/safari/mountain-gorilla-conservation-safari/
https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/mountain-gorilla
http://www.ugandawildlife.org
https://bwinditrust.org