Trans-border communities living in Rwenzori region districts near Queen Elizabeth National Park are waking up to the economic benefits of sustainable utilisation of natural resources.

The communities, some of whose members were poachers, are now participating in several projects that they say have changed their perception about wildlife, writes Shamim Saad.

Saturday Valentine, an ex-poacher, coordinates a group of ex-poachers, known as Kabukwiri Reformed Poachers in Kabukwiri village, Ndagare parish, Rubirizi district.

The group is earning from what is called nature capital tourism and are spearheading a campaign to dissuade those who are still engaged in poaching to stop the vice.

They denounced poaching in 2018 and were formally recognised by the Government in 2019.

“In the early 1980s and 90s, our parents used to poach. Our mothers used to sell the game meat, which our fathers brought, besides the timber that they used to harvest illegally from Kalinzu central forest reserve and Imaramagambo forest.”

“Ever since we quit poaching, we have seen our lives transformed. We did not value our children’s education, but now we are trying our best to build business better houses for our families. No more destitute families...,” Saturday says.

He narrates that many poachers lost their lives in the wilderness, leaving behind destitute families. To get out of this situation, the widows and orphans ventured into enterprises like apiculture, paper crafts from elephant dung and coffee growing.

From left: Zirivaziyo Kyomukama display the elephant dung at the collection centre as Moses Agaba, the project coordinator for Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group, looks on

For Provia Katushaabe, the important men in her life were both poachers. Her father poached in the game park and she also got married to a poacher. So she is fully aware of the dangers such families are exposed to.

“It was a stressful life because my husband would come home with game meat and UWA rangers would apprehend him. At one point when he was arrested, we sold our land to get him released. So we started life from zero.”

But the widows of poachers realised they needed to overcome their destitution and stigma, so they formed income-generating groups. The National Forest Authority (NFA) allowed them to start beekeeping on a 600-acre strip of land, which is part of the buffer zone between settlements and the game park. NFA also contracted them to plant trees.

Claire Sande, another member of the reformed poachers' group, intimates that “with this group, we have benefited a lot. We were not known anywhere, but now we even have a SACCOS where we save and also borrow from. We also started a group called Kabukwiri Apiary Women’s Project around this area. Now we can afford to take our children to good schools.”

The group harvests honey twice a year during the dry season and earns about sh81m from over three tonnes of honey.

They have now ventured into packaging, which is bringing in more money. However, pests that invade beehives are affecting their business.

FORMATION OF SACCOS AND COOPERATIVES

To ensure that they consistently adhere to the standards desired by their customers, the women and youth organised themselves into small cooperatives and established cottage industries and collective selling points.

Such organised groups easily acquire loans and also buy raw materials collectively, thus getting good bargains.

Another vibrant farmers’ cooperative is Busongora County Farmers cooperative Society Limited with over 500 members, 360 of whom are women. Nelson Kibikwamu, a member, proudly describes their achievement, saying: “This coffee is an indicator of how they are progressing. Previously, we did not know that the trees yield more the older they get.”

Another successful group is the Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group, whose 80 members engage in various activities, ranging from conservation to paper crafts using elephant dung.

In order to stop the communities from destroying trees for firewood and charcoal in the game park, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) supported them to set up beehives on the Queen Elizabeth National Park boundary. The bees also stop elephants from crossing into their gardens.

Moses Agaba, the project coordinator for Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group, explains that they also make handicrafts to promote community tourism and also construct improved cookstoves that use less firewood.

“When one collects elephant dung from his garden, we pay them 20,000 for a full basin. Before we started buying the dung, people were bitter with the elephants and used to poison them. But with this intervention, they have stopped.”

The group also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UWA to access elephant dung in the national park.

IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY

The agri-ecology initiatives by the communities have attracted interest and support from both Government and environment conservation agencies, such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The agencies realised that the communities could produce more volumes and improve on the quality of their products if they got support to practice better farming and value- addition methods.

Jefuroza Kabuwaho, a coffee farmer, grinding coffee on a stone

Such practices have also enabled the communities to tackle challenges such as soil erosion that were threatening the fertility of their gardens.

Nelson Kibikwamu is appreciative of the interventions by the WWF, IUCN and other partners, under their joint programme, Conserving Natural Capital and Enhancing Collaborative Management of Trans-boundary Resources in East Africa (CONNECT), funded by USAID.

“Before WWF came in, a coffee farmer who cultivated one acre harvested three bags of green beans. But after we were trained on good agricultural practices, we got more. For example, a farmer is able to harvest five or six bags of coffee that we sell together in bulk.

Daniel Ndizihiwe, the WWF manager for protected areas, explains that they targeted coffee farmers in the buffer zone of the game parks.

“We expect activities taking place in the area to also have an impact on the conservation work that is taking place at the level of protected area management. That is why it is important to collaborate with those communities,” Ndizihiwe said.

He adds that coffee enhances conservation agriculture and that farmers earn more when they add value, adding that there is a ready market of tourists who frequent the coffee shop in the area. This has also boosted eco-tourism.

Caroline Nyamamu, the communications and membership manager for IUCN, observes that the many natural resources in East Africa are trans-boundary. They, therefore, encourage multiple stakeholder involvement strategies in the conservation of these natural resources.

“We are already seeing these strategies in action. For example, this initiative called conservation of trans-boundary natural resources, which is funded by USAID. Working with the East African Community and other partners, such as WWF, together with the communities, we are already realising good impact.”

She appeals for sustained involvement of policymakers so that everyone benefits from appropriate conservation policies.

As a strategic partner, NFA has collaborated with the communities to restore indigenous trees on over 1,200 acres in Kalinzu Central Forest Reserve. They signed an agreement with the community in 2013.

The Rubirizi district forest officer, Ritah Murungi, notes that “the Natural Forestry and Tree Planting Act of 2003 mandates NFA to give out land to the community so that they can earn a living, alongside conserving it.”

Previously, the communities would encroach on the forest as they expanded their subsistence gardens. But with this approach that makes them partners in conservation, their livelihoods have greatly improved and they live in more decent houses.

RAMSAR SITE

The Rwenzori Ramsar Site, which covers 99,500 hectares, is known for its rare endangered species. But it also has an important cultural attachment to some communities, such as the Bakonzo. It is this community value that the Uganda Wildlife Authority exploits to the benefit of eco-tourism.

The UWA senior warden, James Okware Illukol, says they have a resource management agreement with the community to sustainably exploit natural resources for firewood, bamboo, medicine and mushrooms to support community livelihoods.

“We are here not just to conserve, but also to make sure that we support the local communities in their struggle for livelihoods, in addition to conservation.”

However, monitoring conservation trends should be factored in, especially with the increasing adverse climate change effects, which might result in the extinction of the Rwenzori Glaziers by 2025, (Who says)

UWA is adapting to new technology to collect data related to ecological activities, according to Nelson Enyagu, the in-charge of Ecological Monitoring and Research at UWA.

“We also carry out water monitoring to assess its quality because millions of people depend on this water and, therefore, their health must be considered.”

But there is a lot more to be done between the communities and the agencies, so sensitisation remains key. Alice Natukunda, the community conservation warden, appeals for more commitment by the communities and partners like IUCN and WWF.

FRUSTRATIONS BY INVESTORS

However, while the indigenous community is progressively adapting to conservation, investors from outside the region are frustrating their efforts and reversing the gains.

The communities say the investors have embarked on taking over large tracts of land and are constructing schools and permanent residences. This is threatening the wildlife habitat, thus the recent incidents of lions attacking people’s livestock.

ABOUT THE CONNECT PROJECT

Conserving Natural Capital and Enhancing Collaborative Management of Transboundary Resources in East Africa (CONNECT) is a project that aims to strengthen the conservation and management of natural resources shared by the East African countries, including wildlife and landscapes, popularly referred to as transboundary natural resources.

The project seeks to strengthen East African Community (EAC’s) institutional leadership to deliver on its regional mandate and commitments to conserve and manage shared environment and natural resources in East Africa.

It believes that by strengthening existing regional conservation initiatives through generating evidence-based information, innovative methodologies, tools, and best practices, EAC partner states and their citizens will reap benefits of their natural resources.