Gorilla conservation is one of the most diverse fields of conservation in Africa. Well as most of the information published about mountain gorillas relates to gorilla safaris in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, little is often said about the conservation efforts and the local communities’ perception of the same.
Currently, several media houses have been awash with stories of the gorilla babies in the different sectors of Bwindi with the most recent one coming from the Nkuringo sector. All these stories cite the growing population of the endangered mountain gorillas.
Organizations such as Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) have been applauded for their continuous conservation efforts that have transformed Bwindi communities. However amidst these success stories, the community views of people that are either anti conservation or complacent about conservation are rarely captured.
In a recent report by Environment Governance Institute (EGI), a number of details were shared shading light on the current status of the Bwindi community views on Mountain gorilla conservation. Among the major highlights were issues related to the gorilla habitat and the human-gorilla conflict.
Below is the summary of the EGI report on Bwindi communities’ perception on mountain gorilla conservation and sustainable tourism courtesy of a 218 respondents’ survey.
Benefits Of Mountain Gorilla Conservation to Bwindi Communities
The survey sought to find out whether the communities perceive any benefit from mountain gorilla conservation. Out of the 218 respondents, 82.6% agreed that they perceive real benefits from the mountain gorilla conservation. 17.4% said were uncertain about the impact of the mountain conservation in their area.
Only 0.5 of the local communities sited being employed in the conservation agencies such as Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). 7.8% of the respondents noted that they benefit from tourists buying local crafts from them. 13.3% sited direct benefit from the Uganda wildlife Authority revenue sharing scheme. 14.7 were simply happy to have tourists in their communities. 22.5% reported to have received monetary tokens from tourists.
Community Views on Gorilla Rescue in case of Trapping
Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusooka once sited that with the continuous reduction in the mountain gorilla-human conflict courtesy of gorilla habituation; mountain gorillas are continuously crossing into human communities. This possess a challenge to the mountain gorilla safety. Sometimes even though it is rare, mountain gorillas tend to get trapped in wires.
During the survey, the community respondents were asked whether they would be willing to help a trapped mountain gorilla; 59.6% were willing to help a trapped gorilla while 40.4% were hesitant about helping trapped mountain gorillas.
Hunting within Bwindi Impenetrable National park
It is important to note that the communities that live around Bwindi Impenetrable Forest are not interested in hunting mountain gorillas however they are interested in having the liberty to hunt other wildlife species. According to the survey; 62.8% of the respondents advocated for conservation above liberty to hunt in Bwindi while 37.2% advocated for liberty to hunt in Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Gorilla Human Conflict
In the conservation journey, there is a grey line between choosing to prioritize gorillas over humans. In the EGI survey they sought to find out what the community views are on this matter.
The locals were asked whether they should prioritize mountain gorillas above the local communities. In their response; 52.3% supported the prioritization of mountain gorilla conservation over the local community siting the direct financial benefit of gorilla conservation to the local communities. However 47.7% supported the prioritization of the local communities above mountain gorilla conservation in instances where a choice is needed between the two.
The communities also overwhelmingly supported the notion of co-existence with the mountain gorillas. Only 9.6% of the population sited cultural constraints that arise in an attempt to co-exist with the mountain gorillas.
According to the survey by EGI; 84.8% reported to have encountered challenges related to mountain gorilla-human conflict; 18% reported crop destruction, 14.2 reported human attacks, 24.8% reported domestic animal attacks, 11.5% reported disease transmission, 9.7% complained about Uganda wildlife Authority prioritizing gorillas above humans while 8.8% reported no challenges at all.
6.9% of the local communities still need access to the park to collect firewood, 10.1% need access to the park to collect timber, while other people in the community need access to the park to collect herbs and performing cultural rituals.
Based on the survey, 98.2% supported the regulations restricting the encroachment on Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It was only 1.8% that opposed the Uganda wildlife Authority (UWA) restriction on poaching and encroachment.
Dissemination Of Conservation Information
The report sited inadequate information access. 33.5% of the information that the communities have access to information disseminated by NGOs, 28.1% was disseminated by UWA, and 23.9% was disseminated by local leaders.
In conclusion, the survey shows that more efforts are still needed to ensure that the local communities support and directly benefit from gorilla tours conducted in Uganda’s gorilla parks. 97% of the respondents were living with in 10km radius from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park; 19.7% of the respondents reside in less than 1km from Bwindi, 34.9% reside between 1 and 2 km from the national park, 28.9% reside within 3km from the national park while only 13.8% reside 3-5km from Bwindi.
