Basongora need a home and wildlife must be protected
Jun 05, 2007
DEAR President Yoweri Museveni, <br>Bold leadership and vision is needed to resolve the ongoing conflict at the Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in southwestern Uganda involving Basongora pastoralists who, after being thrown out of Virunga in the Congo in March 2006, settled in parts of the par
Opiyo Oloya
DEAR President Yoweri Museveni,
Bold leadership and vision is needed to resolve the ongoing conflict at the Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in southwestern Uganda involving Basongora pastoralists who, after being thrown out of Virunga in the Congo in March 2006, settled in parts of the park.
The matter has pitted the herdsmen supported by local officials against the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials trying to do their jobs. The crisis reached a boiling point last week when the cattle-keepers resisted eviction by combined UWA and UPDF. The no-win standoff threatens to escalate into a wider conflict with potential loss of human life and livestock.
In some ways, the issues at QENP are similar to those found throughout Africa and the rest of the world where national governments are attempting to balance the urgent clamour for more commercial land with the need for parkland conservation.
In Australia’s Victoria State, for example, the sensitive Alpine National Park is threatened by a 170-year old cattle-grazing tradition that allows the animals to roam free in the Bogong High Plain. Here in Canada, the expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway into multi-lane highway used by thousands of vehicles each day increased collisions between wild animals and vehicles.
Meanwhile, the US National Park Service spends millions of dollars annually to protect its numerous well established parks from both commercial activities and alien species.
The difficulty at QENP arises from the fact that the Basongora pastoralists do have viable claims to parts of the park dating back more than a century. To regulate commercial land use and hunting, the British administrators of the time designated as a game reserve the area north of Lake George in 1906.
The restricted area was expanded in the intervening years to combat sleeping sickness, a move that affected the Basongora pastoralists. In March 1952, with the passing of the National Park Ordinance, Queen Elizabeth was formally created as a national park, spanning some 1,978 square kilometres across present-day Kasese, Bushenyi and Rukungiri districts.
The Basongora who derive a large part of their livelihood from their livestock have since bounced from one place to another, often facing angry and unwelcoming neighbours. Their migration across the border into the Congo in 1999 was mainly to find a place to call home. Unfortunately, in early March last year, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo pushed the pastoralists back into Uganda, and with nowhere to go, families settled in parts of the park.
Naturally, the impact on the park’s wildlife was immediate, most notably on the lion population which was essentially decimated within a very short time by herdsmen setting poisoned traps. Based on a conversation report last summer with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, formerly with UWA and now CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, it is possible that a single lonely lion is left in QENP, barely clinging to life with its claws. Maybe there are no more lions left in the park!
Meanwhile, smaller and larger game have also moved away as the population of the park has increased beyond the original 1,500 Basongora who returned from the DRC. In fact, the current outbreak of mouth and foot disease in the livestock population may be due to the unrestricted contacts between wild and domestic animals.
Mr. President, a bold plan is needed to preserve the QENP with its abundant and diverse wildlife population including over 550 bird species. Such a plan should recognise the QENP as home to some of the world’s endangered species of birds, animals and plants. It is not just about the dollar, but also about preserving this fine national heritage for future generations.
At the same time, the Basongora need a permanent home. The inter-ministerial committee you appointed last year to look into the issue has had limited success in developing viable solutions. Its mandate is too narrow, and it lacks time and resources to focus exclusively on this important issue.
What is needed is a national commission of inquiry with a broad mandate to look at conservation issues at QENP specifically, as well as in all the national parks in Uganda.
For such a commission to be effective, it must be free to consult widely with parkland conservation experts within and outside the African continent.
Moreover, it should be open-minded enough to examine suggestions from communities surrounding the parks, including the hard-to-contemplate ideas of carving off a piece of QENP to be designated as the permanent home of the Basongora pastoralists, and fencing the remaining wildlife game park to stave off further human encroachment.
The commission should also look at alternative areas to relocate the Basongora—but merely chasing them off parkland is not a solution. Where do they go? Naturally, there is a need to quickly establish such a commission in order to begin gathering information from all stake-holders, and prepare to report to parliament within, say, three to six months.
In the meantime, further movement of cattle into QENP must be banned to avoid other pastoralists joining the scramble for parkland. The existing Basongora should be moved to a designated fenced off area of the park while awaiting a permanent solution. Meanwhile UWA needs more resources right now—vehicles and park rangers supported by aerial surveillance to effectively do their job.
Mr. President, the report of the commission is likely to be unpopular with conservationists and with the Basongora, but it must be one that everyone can live with.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca
DEAR President Yoweri Museveni,
Bold leadership and vision is needed to resolve the ongoing conflict at the Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in southwestern Uganda involving Basongora pastoralists who, after being thrown out of Virunga in the Congo in March 2006, settled in parts of the park.
The matter has pitted the herdsmen supported by local officials against the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials trying to do their jobs. The crisis reached a boiling point last week when the cattle-keepers resisted eviction by combined UWA and UPDF. The no-win standoff threatens to escalate into a wider conflict with potential loss of human life and livestock.
In some ways, the issues at QENP are similar to those found throughout Africa and the rest of the world where national governments are attempting to balance the urgent clamour for more commercial land with the need for parkland conservation.
In Australia’s Victoria State, for example, the sensitive Alpine National Park is threatened by a 170-year old cattle-grazing tradition that allows the animals to roam free in the Bogong High Plain. Here in Canada, the expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway into multi-lane highway used by thousands of vehicles each day increased collisions between wild animals and vehicles.
Meanwhile, the US National Park Service spends millions of dollars annually to protect its numerous well established parks from both commercial activities and alien species.
The difficulty at QENP arises from the fact that the Basongora pastoralists do have viable claims to parts of the park dating back more than a century. To regulate commercial land use and hunting, the British administrators of the time designated as a game reserve the area north of Lake George in 1906.
The restricted area was expanded in the intervening years to combat sleeping sickness, a move that affected the Basongora pastoralists. In March 1952, with the passing of the National Park Ordinance, Queen Elizabeth was formally created as a national park, spanning some 1,978 square kilometres across present-day Kasese, Bushenyi and Rukungiri districts.
The Basongora who derive a large part of their livelihood from their livestock have since bounced from one place to another, often facing angry and unwelcoming neighbours. Their migration across the border into the Congo in 1999 was mainly to find a place to call home. Unfortunately, in early March last year, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo pushed the pastoralists back into Uganda, and with nowhere to go, families settled in parts of the park.
Naturally, the impact on the park’s wildlife was immediate, most notably on the lion population which was essentially decimated within a very short time by herdsmen setting poisoned traps. Based on a conversation report last summer with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, formerly with UWA and now CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, it is possible that a single lonely lion is left in QENP, barely clinging to life with its claws. Maybe there are no more lions left in the park!
Meanwhile, smaller and larger game have also moved away as the population of the park has increased beyond the original 1,500 Basongora who returned from the DRC. In fact, the current outbreak of mouth and foot disease in the livestock population may be due to the unrestricted contacts between wild and domestic animals.
Mr. President, a bold plan is needed to preserve the QENP with its abundant and diverse wildlife population including over 550 bird species. Such a plan should recognise the QENP as home to some of the world’s endangered species of birds, animals and plants. It is not just about the dollar, but also about preserving this fine national heritage for future generations.
At the same time, the Basongora need a permanent home. The inter-ministerial committee you appointed last year to look into the issue has had limited success in developing viable solutions. Its mandate is too narrow, and it lacks time and resources to focus exclusively on this important issue.
What is needed is a national commission of inquiry with a broad mandate to look at conservation issues at QENP specifically, as well as in all the national parks in Uganda.
For such a commission to be effective, it must be free to consult widely with parkland conservation experts within and outside the African continent.
Moreover, it should be open-minded enough to examine suggestions from communities surrounding the parks, including the hard-to-contemplate ideas of carving off a piece of QENP to be designated as the permanent home of the Basongora pastoralists, and fencing the remaining wildlife game park to stave off further human encroachment.
The commission should also look at alternative areas to relocate the Basongora—but merely chasing them off parkland is not a solution. Where do they go? Naturally, there is a need to quickly establish such a commission in order to begin gathering information from all stake-holders, and prepare to report to parliament within, say, three to six months.
In the meantime, further movement of cattle into QENP must be banned to avoid other pastoralists joining the scramble for parkland. The existing Basongora should be moved to a designated fenced off area of the park while awaiting a permanent solution. Meanwhile UWA needs more resources right now—vehicles and park rangers supported by aerial surveillance to effectively do their job.
Mr. President, the report of the commission is likely to be unpopular with conservationists and with the Basongora, but it must be one that everyone can live with.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca