Tourism on the rise in Kasese
Feb 13, 2007
FOLLOWING the defeat of ADF rebels in 2001, the number of tourists visiting national parks in the west has risen to at least 30,000 annually, district leaders and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials have said.
By John Thawite
FOLLOWING the defeat of ADF rebels in 2001, the number of tourists visiting national parks in the west has risen to at least 30,000 annually, district leaders and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials have said.
The UWA community conservation warden in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Benon Mugyerwa, said recently that at least 30,000 international and local tourists visit the park every year.
He was speaking at Ihango trading centre in Ihandiro sub-county, Kasese district, where a total of 450 poachers denounced the exercise and surrendered their tools including spears, pangas, traps and one dog to UWA.
The group becomes the 12th in the district to denounce the habit since the anti-poaching campaign begun about two years ago.
In their report, the former poachers asked UWA to find them an alternative source of income since they had been depending on game meat for school fees and the day-to-day running of their homes.
Mugyerwa asked the residents to be creative so that they can have something to sell to the tourists.
He explained that Kasese airport was to be constructed mainly because of the park, but if the locals killed the animals, the airport would be wasted.
Mugyerwa urged the parishes neigbouring the park to invest the revenue got as park gate collections. They get 20% of the collections.
He said the number of animals in the park had decreased but added that once they increased, the communities around the park would be given opportunity to hunt some of them for meat.
The district chairman, the Rev. Canon Julius Kithaghenda, hailed UWA for changing the approach in dealing with poachers.
He said the government had been losing elections in Kitabu village because of the poor relationship between the authorities of the park and the local community.
FOLLOWING the defeat of ADF rebels in 2001, the number of tourists visiting national parks in the west has risen to at least 30,000 annually, district leaders and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials have said.
The UWA community conservation warden in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Benon Mugyerwa, said recently that at least 30,000 international and local tourists visit the park every year.
He was speaking at Ihango trading centre in Ihandiro sub-county, Kasese district, where a total of 450 poachers denounced the exercise and surrendered their tools including spears, pangas, traps and one dog to UWA.
The group becomes the 12th in the district to denounce the habit since the anti-poaching campaign begun about two years ago.
In their report, the former poachers asked UWA to find them an alternative source of income since they had been depending on game meat for school fees and the day-to-day running of their homes.
Mugyerwa asked the residents to be creative so that they can have something to sell to the tourists.
He explained that Kasese airport was to be constructed mainly because of the park, but if the locals killed the animals, the airport would be wasted.
Mugyerwa urged the parishes neigbouring the park to invest the revenue got as park gate collections. They get 20% of the collections.
He said the number of animals in the park had decreased but added that once they increased, the communities around the park would be given opportunity to hunt some of them for meat.
The district chairman, the Rev. Canon Julius Kithaghenda, hailed UWA for changing the approach in dealing with poachers.
He said the government had been losing elections in Kitabu village because of the poor relationship between the authorities of the park and the local community.