Encroachment on Bugoma Forest driving Chimpanzee-human conflict

BUGOMA FOREST|NEMA|HOIMA SUGAR|TOURISM

Encroachment and illegal logging at Bugoma Forest Reserve are denying chimps food and forcing them to raid nearby farms and gardens.

Kasozi Atuhura, the conservation programme officer of the Chimpanzee Trust, says they have been working with the affected farmers in Kabwoya to reduce the damage to the farmland.

He adds: "The farmers keep encroaching on parts of Bugoma and the riverine forests. But now they are complaining, not knowing that they have caused the problem. We fear that further destruction will lead to further reduction in the number of primates. The chimps will camp in the sugarcane plantations and this is going to increase the human-wildlife conflict."



The Vision Group team encountered chimps on a farm belonging to Tadeo Ayebare in Bubogo village, Kabwoya subcounty, Kikuube district.

"We are sharing our food with the chimps," Ayebare says, adding that they lose up to half of their harvest to chimpanzees.

Yafesi Kaahwa, the village chairperson, says: "Let there be tourism so that the local people can benefi t from it."