UWA receives operation gears

TOURISM  | COVID-19

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has received operations gears from African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to facilitate park rangers on patrol enforcement operations in Uganda's national parks.

The items which include 100 heavy duty single man tents, 300 gumboots reinforced with steel material, 300 safari sleeping pads, 300 metallic water bottles, 400 small size hand sanitizers and 2000 masks were donated.

This was on Monday during a brief ceremony held at the Uganda museum.

The items which will be distributed across all national parks were handed over by AWF Executive Director Suudi Bamulesewa to UWA Executive Director Sam Mwandha who was flanked by UWA's top management.

Bamulesewa noted that due to the current COVID-19 threat, the single man tents donated are not shareable. This, he said, is specifically intended to help minimise the spread of COVID-19 during extended overnight patrols where rangers camp in the wild for days.

"The tents are single man to avoid any disease spread but also avail the rangers with a decent and comfortable place in the night as they go about protection of the national parks during these unprecedented days of the Corona pandemic.

The gumboots will offer effective protection of staff during the patrols and can last longer because they are reinforced with steel," he noted.

Mwandha appreciated the long-standing partnership the institution enjoys with AWF and thanked them for the help extended especially during the uncertain time of COVID-19 pandemic.

"The sleeping pads will be a great motivation to our rangers on patrol especially in the rainy and cold days," he said.

He extend his gratitude to AWF for coming through, to the current challenges where resources have significantly reduced due to the drop in the revenue collected.