Uganda Communities Plant Trees to Protect Bwindi Gorilla Habitat

Communities living near Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are planting trees to reduce dependence on the protected forest and help safeguard the habitat of mountain gorillas.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority is working with local groups to provide seedlings and tree species valued for medicine, firewood, timber and craft materials. The initiative is intended to reduce tree loss, forest-resource collection and encroachment around the park.

Useful trees planted near the park

Residents are planting medicinal and indigenous species, alongside eucalyptus and other trees considered useful by local communities. Officials say the approach could reduce the need for people to enter the park to collect resources.

Joseph Muhindo, an assistant tourism and hospitality officer with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, said providing seedlings could help communities obtain herbal medicine without entering the forest.

“They bring several tree species that are medicinal to the community so that they can harvest from within the community without tampering with the habitat for the gorillas,” Muhindo said.

Owembabazi Eunice, a member of a women’s group that produces crafts for tourists, said the group had received grey goosefoot, locally known as “Amakwatangwe,” and eucalyptus trees. The trees were planted near the park, she said, to reduce conflict between people and gorillas over forest resources.

Schools included in conservation campaign

Christina Katushabe, founder of the community-based organisation Change a Life, has extended the tree-planting campaign to schools. Students are being taught how to plant trees and take part in practical environmental conservation.

At Ruhija Seed Secondary School, 20-year-old student Davis said the trees were planted to discourage people from cutting the forest and to help protect the gorillas.

Katushabe said indigenous trees planted outside the park could improve biodiversity and provide additional habitat and food for wildlife. She also said the Batwa people had helped guide the selection of species needed by communities for medicine, timber and firewood.

Conservation and tourism

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site in south-western Uganda, contains one of the most important remaining habitats for mountain gorillas. The park is home to about 450 gorillas, described as almost half of the world’s remaining population.

Tourism has become an important part of conservation efforts in the area. Payments from visitors support local communities and create economic incentives to protect the animals. A permit for a foreign non-resident tourist to see gorillas in their natural habitat costs $800, according to the information provided.

Deforestation around the park remains a challenge, although habitat encroachment and poaching are reported to be declining as wildlife authorities work more closely with neighbouring communities.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the mountain gorilla as endangered, an improvement from its previous critically endangered designation. A 2018 survey found that the global population had risen above 1,000.

The tree-planting project is presented by its organisers and participants as a locally led way to ease pressure on Bwindi’s forest while supporting the communities that live alongside it. Independent measurements of the project’s effects on deforestation, biodiversity and gorilla habitat have not been provided.