Theses & Dissertations
http://ir.must.ac.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/306
2024-03-28T21:14:47ZSocio-Economic and Ecological Implications of Local People’s Use of Bwindi Forest in South Western Uganda
http://ir.must.ac.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/1707
Socio-Economic and Ecological Implications of Local People’s Use of Bwindi Forest in South Western Uganda
Bitariho, Robert
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (hereafter called Bwindi) is an Afromontane forest that has probably existed since the Pleistocene and Holocene times. The forest was first used by Batwa for hunting and wild fruit/yams gathering up to the mid-16th century when Bakiga and Bafumbira agriculturists came and started clearing forest patches for farming. In 1991, Bwindi forest was gazetted a national park and restrictions on forest use by local people were imposed resulting in conflict between park managers and the local people. To mitigate the conflict, park management
introduced a Multiple Use Programme (MUP) that involved local people accessing the forest for
some livelihood resources such as plants for medicines and basketry. Under the MUP, local people were allowed access to a few forest resources and not all important livelihoods requirements were granted. Forest resources such as firewood, building poles, bushmeat, fruits, wild fruits, yams and fish were not permitted under the MUP. Despite the several reviews carried out on Bwindi’s MUP, the programme has up to now failed to confirm to key definitions of collaborative forest management like elsewhere in other protected areas (PAs) of Uganda. The RUCs in Bwindi meet less frequently than those of other PAs. Local people around Bwindi have lost interest in the RUC meetings and view forest access in Bwindi as being very restrictive. Furthermore, there is less cohesion and cooperation among the RUCs of Bwindi than those from other PAs. Indeed, through village and resource user interviews, this study found out that the most preferred forest resources for the local people around Bwindi were mainly those prohibited by park management. Also there was a significant difference between the Batwa and the Bakiga, men and women in forest resource preferences. To understand how Bwindi’s MUP contributes to local people’s livelihoods and income, this study carried out village interviews and market surveys around Bwindi. Results show that there was a significant difference in local people’s attitudes on benefits got from the MUP among three categories of parishes (non-multiple use, beekeeping zone and plant harvest zone parishes). Local people involved in the MUP had the most positive attitudes than those not involved. There was a significant difference between the three categories of parishes in mean annual incomes from the sale of forest products. Beekeeping for honey is the most lucrative contributing to a mean annual income of 298,000ushs (114USD) per beekeeper. This study concluded that the MUP has helped contribute a small but important livelihood and income to the forest resource users around Bwindi. To understand the ecological implications of harvesting the forest resources from Bwindi, a forest survey was carried. Results show that plant stem densities were highest in the harvest zones than in non-harvest zones. Furthermore, non-harvest zones had larger sized individuals than the harvest zones. Annual bark production of Ocotea usambarensis tree and annual stem growth rates of Piper guineense and Milletia dura were not significantly different between the two zones. There was a significant relationship between environmental variables (% tree canopy cover and altitude) and stem densities of most plants. Multiple use guidelines have been proposed by this study to improve Bwindi’s MUP.
2013-01-01T00:00:00ZThe effectiveness of Problem Animal Mitigation interventions around Karangara and Bujengwe Parishes, Kanungu District, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, SW Uganda
http://ir.must.ac.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/863
The effectiveness of Problem Animal Mitigation interventions around Karangara and Bujengwe Parishes, Kanungu District, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, SW Uganda
Bitariho, Robert; Akampurira, Emmanuel; Twinomuhangi, Isaac
Around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), wild animals such as gorillas, elephants, baboons and bush pigs occasionally come out of the forest to into settlements to raid crops and but also end up harming human beings. This leads to negative attitudes within communities towards the Park and animals therein. Around 2000, in Karangara and Bujengwe parishes, interventions to reduce crop raiding by the wild animals were introduced by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and other development agencies (CARE, BMCT, IGCP). The main interventions were the Mauritius thorn hedge (Akampurira 2011; CARE et al. 2003), Tea growing and Baboon traps. Despite these interventions, local communities continued to experience crop losses attributed to raids from the park due to the ineffectiveness of the interventions.
Previous studies have shown that the ineffectiveness of the Mauritius hedge is mainly a result of poor maintenance and management (Akampurira 2011; Akampurira, Bitariho, and Mugerwa 2015; Babaasa, Akampurira, and Bitariho 2013; Kalpers et al. 2010; Masiga, Biryahwaho, and Akampurira 2011). Local communities consider most of these interventions as time demanding and labour intensive activities that they can’t sustain without incentives or financial support (Akampurira 2011; Masiga, Biryahwaho, and Akampurira 2011).
The major goal for this study was to empirically assess the effectiveness of the interventions in Karangara and Bujengwe parishes by combining a quantitative and qualitative approach. To achieve this the study interviewed 90 homesteads (farmers) on the effectiveness of available problem-animal management interventions using semi-structured questionnaires. Furthermore, data on 583 and 5 crop raiding events was collected in standardized plots.
Results show crop raiding by the wild animals is still prevalent in the study area and that millet was most affected by crop raiding animals (26.10%), followed by beans (18.39%) and maize (14.15%). There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between species the local people perceived to raid crops most and the study observations on the most raided crops. In both cases baboons were identified as the most crop raiding and destructive species. Most of the crops were raided at their mature (60%) and medium (30%) stages of growth. Guarding was the most trusted and most used intervention against crop raiding in this study. This observation is not unique and has been recorded by other studies. The dependence of local communities on guarding can be attributed to the failure of the interventions introduced by the development agencies such as the Mauritius thorn hedge to offer protection against crop raiding. The Mauritius thorn in its current state cannot stem/reduce crop raiding by the wild animals. Most of the hedge that was planted died out and there exists only few patches of the intact thick hedge of the plant to stem/reduce crop raiding. The study identified that all interventions used in Karangara and Bujengwe were not perfect and had shortfalls. However, we also observed that the interventions the local people improvised for themselves such as guarding were considered more effective and were more trusted even when they took up a lot of people’s time. This suggests that local communities are more inclined to actively engage in mitigation efforts if they have a hand in the design and approach.
The study recommends that farmers should be realistically involved in the process of solving the conflict by taking responsibility for the problem. Such an approach is likely to be more successful, and more sustainable in the long term, than interventions that are dependent on external funding. These interventions need to be within the financial and technological capacities of the people implementing them, if they are to provide long-term solutions.
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z