Officials at the Uganda Wildlife Authority have revealed part of the success they have registered past the 25 years of service.
Among these is Increase in wildlife populations, addressing human-wildlife conflicts, and biological management of vegetation
Tom Butime, the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Tom Butime told reporters that the Authority has played a fundamental role in the social-economic transformation of the country and such a milestone should be celebrated.
According to Butime, UWA has since registered an increase in wildlife populations for most animal species including mountain gorillas, elephants, buffalos, giraffes among others, and also the rhinos that had been declared extinct in the country by the year 1994.
“At the moment Uganda has a population of over 400 gorillas, 7,975 elephants, 44,000 buffalos, 17,516 Burchell’s zebra, and over 2,000 giraffes all this is a result of a combination of factors ranging from good policies to improved security for the wildlife” Butime added.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority was established in August 1996 under the Uganda Wildlife Statute which merged the country’s National Parks and Game department and will this year be celebrating its Silver Jubilee on June 24th.
After its establishment in the late 90s, the institution inherited challenges that included limited financial resources, lack of institutional policies, and demoralized staff but according to the Minister, there has been a lot of transformation that has led to effective protection and conservation of wildlife in Uganda.
“All policies for good governance including strategic plans, human resource manual, board charter, annual operations plans, and other operation and strategic policies have been developed and are being implemented to ensure the efficient running of the institution” Butime added.
The UWA under the tourism sector lately contributes 9% of the country’s GDP due to its provision of over 1 million jobs in the country and over 1 billion USD earned in foreign exchange.
In the bid to increase community relationships and the conservation of wildlife in Uganda, UWA through the wildlife Act provides for 20% of all gate entry fees to be shared with communities surrounding the protected areas for communities to feel the positive impact of conservation in their areas hence community development.
Emphasizing the benefits of Parishes that border with protected areas, UWA executive director Sam Mwandha highlighted that a total of Shs21.4Bn was distributed amongst different parishes in 2019 but however due to the covid19 pandemic the process was slow in the past two years.
“We are also using the Parish Development Model to ensure that communities at the parish level are also benefiting” Mwandha added.
The executive director also highlighted that Ugandans shouldn’t worry about the number of lions as they currently have over 300 across the country but he also cautioned about the protection of the environment by everyone getting involved in their capacity.
The media launch of the UWA’s silver jubilee celebrations will also be followed by several events including the conservation conference on June 21st, the corporate social responsibility on June 23rd, and the launch of the UWA magazine at Sheraton hotel on June 24th.
