Eleven years after massacre: Bwindi park springs back to life
Yesterday, March 1, marked 11 years since people suspected to be Intarahamwe rebels attacked Bwindi National Park in western Uganda, killing eight foreign tourists and four Ugandans.
Yesterday, March 1, marked 11 years since people suspected to be Intarahamwe rebels attacked Bwindi National Park in western Uganda, killing eight foreign tourists and four Ugandans.
Patsno Baraire revisits the incident and highlights the challenges and developments that have since taken place in the park.
On March 1, 1999, the world woke up to one of the most horrific news of our times – people suspected to be Interahamwe rebels attacked Bwindi National Park and brutally murdered eight foreign tourists and four Ugandans. The dead included the park warden, Paul Ross Wagaba. The attackers also burnt the A&K Tourist Gorilla camp at Buhoma, just at the gate of the park and all the vehicles and motorcycles which they found there.
The incident left the tourism industry, especially gorilla tracking, in jeopardy.
After the attack, the park was closed for four months, resulting in a huge loss of revenue. A lot of money was used to renovate it and the Government faced a big challenge of reassuring foreign tourists as many cancelled their trips to the park.
Since the incident, many important people, including President Museveni and the former American Ambassador Nancy Powel, have visited Bwindi and tracked the gorillas in a bid to boost the confidence of the international community that the place is now safe.
While by 1998, the number of tourists visiting Bwindi alone had reached 3,437, it went down to 2,111 in 1999 and it took three years to regain the numbers
when in 2002 Bwindi received 4,048 visitors.
Since then, the number of tourists visiting the park has steadily gone up again from 4,646 in 2004 to 12,100 in 2009, putting the tourism industry among
the leading foreign exchange earners for Uganda.
The A&K Tourist Gorilla Camp has since been rebuilt and renamed the Gorilla Forest Camp, and a number of other camp sites, hotels and lodges have sprung up to cater for the growing number of tourists.
Martin Mugabe, a resident of Buhoma, who was only 12 years at the time of the attack, says the situation has now gone back to normal. Mugabe, now 23, works as a porter to support his family of three.
According to the current Bwindi National Park Conservation manager, Charles Tumwesigye, the number of gorillas habituated for tourism has risen from three in 1999 to six. The groups which existed in 1999 were Mubare, Habinyanja and Katendegere. Today, three others have been formed. Although Katendegere disintegrated in 1999, Habinyanja group split into two in 2002 and the splinter group is called Rushengura.
Also formed are Nkuringo which came into effect in 2002, Bitukura in 2008 and Nshongi in 2009. All these have contributed to the increase in the number
of tourists as the Uganda Wild Life Authority (UWA) is now selling more gorilla permits than it did in 1999. However, there was a problem of poor infrastructure. The stakeholders, who included UWA, the local governments, local communities and the wildlife conservation organisations worked out modalities to improve the
infrastructure.
Besides, the communities were seen as a threat to the gorillas because of their intrusion into the park where they used to hunt, collect firewood and gather
fruits.
Most of these were Batwa who depended entirely on the park for survival. It was feared that they could transmit infections like influenza to the rare gorillas.
The park and UWA had to find alternative means of survival such as bee-keeping, goat-rearing and Irish potato growing for them.
The organisation also reallocated them, which necessitated sharing the revenue from the park with them.
UWA introduced the revenue sharing policy In 2000. According to this policy, communities bordering the parks would get 20% of the revenue from gate
collections. This money is used to supplement the budgets of the district bordering Bwindi National Park.
Since 2000, Kanungu district has received sh251,118,500; Kabale, sh85,635,300 and Kisoro sh46,220,000 from the gate collection revenue sharing.
According to Josephine Kasya, the Kanungu LC5 chairperson, the money has been used to support community projects in the three districts.
With this money, 31 primary schools, 10 health centres and seven community roads have been rehabilitated, while two community halls have been built.
Communities around the park have also used part of the money to procure high quality seeds for planting which has enabled them to depend less on hunting wild
meat from the park.
“I used to spend my time in the bushes hunting game because that is what I found my great grandfathers doing but since UWA built a school and resettled
us I have learnt to practice better farming methods.
“I grow Irish potatoes and sell them to some of the visitors who come here,†says John Mukamwashaka, who originally lived in the park.
Besides the 20% gate collection share, UWA has also introduced the gorilla permit levy which entitles these communities to funds from the 5% gorilla levy
fees which was introduced in 2006, whose implementation started this year.
Last month sh286,000,000 was released to the three districts to supplement their budgets, a process that will continue as the number of tourists continues to
rise.
Mr. Herbert Banobi, a member of the gorilla permit levy committee and a resident of Kyeshero, one of the parishes benefiting from the funds, says
UWA’s decision to give the residents part of the revenue will go a long way in uplifting the standards of living of the people in the area.
“We used to see many people coming here, wondering why we were not benefiting from the venture but now that we are assured of the benefits, we
shall plan for it and develop our infrastructure so that many more can come,†Banobi told The New Vision at Kyeshero on the Uganda DR Congo border.
A group of women at Buhoma on the Bwindi Park entrance have formed an association, called Buhoma Women’s Association, where they make a variety of handicrafts which they sell to the tourists visiting the park. They also sell foodstuffs to earn income.
Stella Tiwangye, one of the women says: “I never went to school but God gave me a talent to weave good baskets which I sell to the visitors. Through this I have managed to educate my children up to university and other higher institutions of learning.†There is also the Bwindi Orphans Group, a local non-governmental organisation which brings together and supports orphans, especially those orphaned by the AIDS scourge.
The children entertain the visitors with music, dance and drama and earn some money for school fees and upkeep.
And with each day that passes, the darkness that engulfed this park on March 1, 1999 and subsequent days turns into light and the tourism sector in this part of the country looks set for even better things.
Patsno Baraire revisits the incident and highlights the challenges and developments that have since taken place in the park.
On March 1, 1999, the world woke up to one of the most horrific news of our times – people suspected to be Interahamwe rebels attacked Bwindi National Park and brutally murdered eight foreign tourists and four Ugandans. The dead included the park warden, Paul Ross Wagaba. The attackers also burnt the A&K Tourist Gorilla camp at Buhoma, just at the gate of the park and all the vehicles and motorcycles which they found there.
The incident left the tourism industry, especially gorilla tracking, in jeopardy.
After the attack, the park was closed for four months, resulting in a huge loss of revenue. A lot of money was used to renovate it and the Government faced a big challenge of reassuring foreign tourists as many cancelled their trips to the park.
Since the incident, many important people, including President Museveni and the former American Ambassador Nancy Powel, have visited Bwindi and tracked the gorillas in a bid to boost the confidence of the international community that the place is now safe.
While by 1998, the number of tourists visiting Bwindi alone had reached 3,437, it went down to 2,111 in 1999 and it took three years to regain the numbers
when in 2002 Bwindi received 4,048 visitors.
Since then, the number of tourists visiting the park has steadily gone up again from 4,646 in 2004 to 12,100 in 2009, putting the tourism industry among
the leading foreign exchange earners for Uganda.
The A&K Tourist Gorilla Camp has since been rebuilt and renamed the Gorilla Forest Camp, and a number of other camp sites, hotels and lodges have sprung up to cater for the growing number of tourists.
Martin Mugabe, a resident of Buhoma, who was only 12 years at the time of the attack, says the situation has now gone back to normal. Mugabe, now 23, works as a porter to support his family of three.
According to the current Bwindi National Park Conservation manager, Charles Tumwesigye, the number of gorillas habituated for tourism has risen from three in 1999 to six. The groups which existed in 1999 were Mubare, Habinyanja and Katendegere. Today, three others have been formed. Although Katendegere disintegrated in 1999, Habinyanja group split into two in 2002 and the splinter group is called Rushengura.
Also formed are Nkuringo which came into effect in 2002, Bitukura in 2008 and Nshongi in 2009. All these have contributed to the increase in the number
of tourists as the Uganda Wild Life Authority (UWA) is now selling more gorilla permits than it did in 1999. However, there was a problem of poor infrastructure. The stakeholders, who included UWA, the local governments, local communities and the wildlife conservation organisations worked out modalities to improve the
infrastructure.
Besides, the communities were seen as a threat to the gorillas because of their intrusion into the park where they used to hunt, collect firewood and gather
fruits.
Most of these were Batwa who depended entirely on the park for survival. It was feared that they could transmit infections like influenza to the rare gorillas.
The park and UWA had to find alternative means of survival such as bee-keeping, goat-rearing and Irish potato growing for them.
The organisation also reallocated them, which necessitated sharing the revenue from the park with them.
UWA introduced the revenue sharing policy In 2000. According to this policy, communities bordering the parks would get 20% of the revenue from gate
collections. This money is used to supplement the budgets of the district bordering Bwindi National Park.
Since 2000, Kanungu district has received sh251,118,500; Kabale, sh85,635,300 and Kisoro sh46,220,000 from the gate collection revenue sharing.
According to Josephine Kasya, the Kanungu LC5 chairperson, the money has been used to support community projects in the three districts.
With this money, 31 primary schools, 10 health centres and seven community roads have been rehabilitated, while two community halls have been built.
Communities around the park have also used part of the money to procure high quality seeds for planting which has enabled them to depend less on hunting wild
meat from the park.
“I used to spend my time in the bushes hunting game because that is what I found my great grandfathers doing but since UWA built a school and resettled
us I have learnt to practice better farming methods.
“I grow Irish potatoes and sell them to some of the visitors who come here,†says John Mukamwashaka, who originally lived in the park.
Besides the 20% gate collection share, UWA has also introduced the gorilla permit levy which entitles these communities to funds from the 5% gorilla levy
fees which was introduced in 2006, whose implementation started this year.
Last month sh286,000,000 was released to the three districts to supplement their budgets, a process that will continue as the number of tourists continues to
rise.
Mr. Herbert Banobi, a member of the gorilla permit levy committee and a resident of Kyeshero, one of the parishes benefiting from the funds, says
UWA’s decision to give the residents part of the revenue will go a long way in uplifting the standards of living of the people in the area.
“We used to see many people coming here, wondering why we were not benefiting from the venture but now that we are assured of the benefits, we
shall plan for it and develop our infrastructure so that many more can come,†Banobi told The New Vision at Kyeshero on the Uganda DR Congo border.
A group of women at Buhoma on the Bwindi Park entrance have formed an association, called Buhoma Women’s Association, where they make a variety of handicrafts which they sell to the tourists visiting the park. They also sell foodstuffs to earn income.
Stella Tiwangye, one of the women says: “I never went to school but God gave me a talent to weave good baskets which I sell to the visitors. Through this I have managed to educate my children up to university and other higher institutions of learning.†There is also the Bwindi Orphans Group, a local non-governmental organisation which brings together and supports orphans, especially those orphaned by the AIDS scourge.
The children entertain the visitors with music, dance and drama and earn some money for school fees and upkeep.
And with each day that passes, the darkness that engulfed this park on March 1, 1999 and subsequent days turns into light and the tourism sector in this part of the country looks set for even better things.