The walk began 32 minutes later than planned with very agile representatives from different organizations, and climaxed with an even more zealous finish 35 minutes earlier than expected, with a very empty ambulance.
The message for the day has and remains short and clear “IVORY BELONGS TO ELEPHANTS!” and Jim Justus Nyamu with his team have and continue to challenge the world to spread the message to “End Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking Now.”
In support of the same, our banner today came with a firm message: “STOP Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking NOW”, and we have several voices of Tour Operators in Uganda behind this message.
According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, In 2011, over $31 Million worth of ivory tusks was smuggled from Eastern Africa to Asia.
According to The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), There are about 500,000 elephants living in Africa. This is frightening!
According to Wildlife Charities, Nearly 100 African elephants are killed each day by poachers. The poachers kill the elephants in order to cut off the elephant’s tusks.
UWA however reports that the Elephant population in Uganda has rejuvenated from when it quickly dwindled in the 1990s; highly commendable effort by different conservation players both within the public and private sector.
The activities of poaching and wildlife trafficking (not only limited to elephants) within the East African region, including Uganda still exist, and must stop. Masses need to be mobilized and informed about the plight of wildlife poaching and the illicit trade in wildlife parts; as well as the need to conserve it.
Over the past few decades, tourism has continued to expand and diversify, and is now one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.
In Uganda like several other countries, the tourism industry is the fastest growing industry, at an annual growth rate of 21% and it continues to contribute insurmountably to Government revenue.
While tourism is a very wide reaching industry involving so many components, in Uganda tourism highly depends on nature, that’s flora and fauna. And it is our duty to conserve and preserve wildlife both fauna and flora.
The tourism industry in Uganda ably employs over 550,000 people in Uganda (majority of whom are youth and women), either directly or indirectly involved in Tourism thus upgrading their standards of living.
The spillover effect alone is inconceivable; with how the tourism industry impacts a small restaurant in the tourism sector while also supporting a banana businessman in the rural area and also generating revenue for the banks which manage the money.
Today we walked to create awareness on the plight of the elephant, but this message should linger on and on through different channels of publicity.
We welcome back and thank the members of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators who managed to participate and support the walk in person; Makerere University Tourism Association (MUTA) for responding to our invite, different players in conservation in Uganda, both public and private sector, and the entire team from Elephant Neighbors Center.
