Uganda to upgrade three forest reserves to national parks status

Jan 26, 2023

The move follows an assessment study that was done in 2018 to establish the importance and intrinsic values of the forest reserves.

Budongo Forest Reserve

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@New Vision

The government of Uganda through the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities (MTWA) is set to gazette three forest reserves into national parks.

The move aims at ensuring the protection of Uganda's forests which are dilapidating at a fast speed.

According to Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) publication “National Plan for Management of Wildlife outside Uganda Wildlife Authority Protected Areas”, Uganda has a total of 1.2 million hectares of central forest reserves and 5000 hectares of local forest reserves.

All these are under the care of local governments and the National Forestry Authority (NFA).

In a letter by Doreen Katusiime, the Permanent Secretary tourism ministry, sent early last week to the local governments where these forest reserves are found; she noted that the upgrade of these forests is in line with the National Wildlife Protected Areas Systems Plan (2002).

The move follows an assessment study that was done in 2018 to establish the importance and intrinsic values of the forest reserves.

The findings recommended the upgrade of Kalinzu, Maramagambo and Budongo Central Forest Reserves.

The new status of the protected areas is expected to reduce encroachment by the people, illegal logging, poaching and deforestation.

The tourism ministry is currently engaging the local governments adjacent to the earmarked forests to consent to the proposed upgrade of the forests into national parks, a move aimed at enhancing the protection status of these critical areas for wildlife protection.

Under this program, Kalinzu and Maramagambo are to be annexed to Queen Elizabeth National Park, a world biosphere reserve in western Uganda.

Kalinzu Forest reserve is a popular chimpanzee tracking destination outside Queen Elizabeth. It is one of the few forests in Uganda with habituated chimpanzees.

Maramagambo Forest which is popular for the Bat Cave will also become an extension of Queen Elizabeth. It is easier to make a destination as a whole thus Maramagambo will directly share in the popularity of Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Budongo Forest Reserve is also going to be annexed to the Murchison Falls National Park to ensure maximum protection of its rich biodiversity.

Budongo is rich in wildlife, including endangered chimpanzees, a variety of bird species, and unique tree species, among several other tourist pullers.

Similar to Kalinzu, Budongo is also a popular chimpanzee tracking destination.

Currently, tourism is already thriving in some of these forest reserves that are being considered for annexation.

 The Kibale Forest National Park in western Uganda and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southwestern Uganda are some of the successful projects that are already fetching high foreign currency receipts into the government coffers.

With the annexation of these forest reserves, the surrounding communities will become direct beneficiaries of the annual revenue-sharing percentage from UWA.

Every year, UWA gives back billions of Uganda shillings to communities near national parks/protected areas in their revenue-sharing policy that seeks to partner with communities near conservation areas to ensure sustainable conservation.

The move is one of the several ways that UWA is contributing to mindset change so that there is less human-wildlife conflict.

Chimpanzee tracking

On December 15, 2022, Bugoma Forest Reserve was also given a green light to upgrade to a national park status.

Chimpanzee tracking is one of the leading primate safari activities that Uganda has to offer. With the annexation of most of the forest reserves which double as habitats for the endangered chimpanzees, chimpanzee tourism will most likely impact the annexed forests communities.

However, besides chimpanzee tracking, there are several other forest activities that could be adopted to ensure that conservation benefits the neighbouring communities. These activities include nature walks, birding, forest bathing, and ziplining among several other activities.

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