UWA starts New Tourist Activity in Mount Elgon
Mount Elgon is a major trekking mountain in East Africa. The famed Mount Elgon is a huge volcano with the largest crater peaks in Africa and famously known as one of the major trekking mountains in East Africa. It is less crowded with a few people on the slopes so there are great chances of spotting wildlife, waterfalls on the slopes, and hot springs to soak in inside the crater.
However, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has introduced mountain bike riding in Mountain Elgon National Park as a new tourist activity to enable tourists who visit the park to relax as they enjoy being part of the park activities. The assistant warden at the national park, Mr Stephen Nyadru, while speaking at the launch on Friday, said the move is aimed at attracting more tourists. He said activities will include traversing of rocks, washouts, and steep declines, on dirt trails, logging roads, and gravel roads that wind along lazy streams through forested valleys or trails that climb up steep mountainsides; and other unpaved environments.
“This is the first time we are introducing this form of tourism. We feel that after climbing the mountain, usually tourists remain dull during descending so this will be able to give them another exercise down the hills as a modern form of tourism in Uganda,” said Mr Nyadru.He also said that the new activity complements other old tourist’s attractions. They include scenic peaks, gorges, hot-springs, magnificent waterfalls, caves, and flora & fauna.
Others are the talking tree along in Kapkwai, and the caldera and crater lakes/pools. The Mt. Elgon area conservation manager, Mr Adonia Bintorwa, said on the first day of launching, the park earned Shs12 million from Ireland bikers – Concern Worldwide – who were on a tri-adventure of Mt Elgon. Mr James Mcmanas, the expedition leader of about 17 bikers from Concern worldwide Ireland, said mountain bike or mountain bicycle (MTB) created for off-road cycling, makes Mt Elgon now a place to go for all bikers.
Climbing the mountain is an experience not soon forgotten and when you combine it with biking it becomes more interesting. If you enjoy mountaineering, Elgon is a place to be.
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Murchison Falls National Park Conservation Vs Oil
HARDLY had we moved a few metres away from Wanseko landing site in Buliisa district, when Elvis Muhangi, my guide, turned and whispered: “Shoebill”.
“He is out there on the swampy patch to the left,” Muhangi pointed out, as he paddled through a tiny channel separating two large marshes. In this marshy delta is where chances of encountering the shoebill stork, a wild bird about the size of a turkey hunting for either insects, frogs or tiny fish and sometimes snakes are high.
“Visitors from all over the world come to see this rare bird,” says Muhangi. “They feel like conquerors when they encounter the shoebill stork because it is only found in a few places in Africa.”
The excitement over the shoebill faded as frogs croaked and insects hidden in the expansive marshland sang different melodies. They were probably ushering us into the heart of the unspoilt Nile Delta, together with spectacular Uganda wildlife and pristine scenery. This brought me face to face with the wild beauties of the Nile Delta, one of the most treasured parts of the earth, where River Nile meets Lake Albert.
A short distance away, fishermen who eke a living out of the delta were perched on wooden canoes, excited by the day’s catch. At the heart of the Nile Delta, large water birds, probably in thousands, gathered for easy pickings. How many birds are in this delta, I wondered. Their huge number does not seem to matter because there is plenty for the creatures to eat. As we moved around the delta, most of the smaller birds were flirting and others making acrobatic landings like their cousins, the aeroplanes. It was like the Biblical Garden of Eden.
This Uganda wildlife paradise, according to Gard Mugiri, the warden incharge of monitoring at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), has always been a battle ground for wildlife rangers and fishermen who have depleted fish from the lake and now sneak into the delta to catch bigger fish. A big part of the delta is protected as Murchison Falls National Park.
Other than the fight with fishermen, conservationists are facing a bigger hurdle since prospectors predict that wildlife beauties of the delta could be sitting on one of the most sought after treasures, oil. The water has many shiny blue patches, which oil experts call oil seeps. “We could be having more oil in the delta than in any other part of the country. But this place is also a delicate ecological system needed for the conservation,” says Reuben Kashambuzi, an advisor in the Ministry of Energy. Murchison falls national park
THE DELTA IS A SANCTUARY FOR WILD ANIMALS
River Nile drops much of its silt in Lake Albert. When the river reaches the delta, it splits into more than 50 channels that either lead into the wider Lake Albert near Wanseko, or Panyimur located in Nebbi district or the Albert Nile on its way to the Sudan border.
Over time, this has created floating islands, home to many aquatic plants. The islands have become an attraction to wildlife, including large mammals such as elephants. “Animals like elephants barely move four kilometres away from where there is plentiful supply of water in the dry season.”
DELTA IS KEY TO TOURISM AREA
The wildlife species flocking the delta have also been accompanied by tourists. Mugiri says the delta is gazetted as a tourism zone, together with the neighbouring Buligi sector, according to the Uganda tourism master plan.
“The delta has all the big mammals,” says Mugiri. “Because of the different attributes, the delta is attractive to many species.” Over 80% of the tourists visiting Murchison Falls National Park go to the delta and the nearby Buliigi sector because of the many species in the area, according to Mugiri.
But the oil installations could be causing negative visual impact and the visitors who come expecting to experience a true wilderness may feel cheated, according to Mugiri.
To minimize the negative impact, the oil operations in Murchison falls national park take place in seasons when tourism is low and UWA also demands for immediate restoration.
“We are also demanding for surface installations,” says Mugiri, adding that they will not abandon Buliigi sector.
In addition, UWA has started creating an alternative tourism circuit around the Murchison Falls National Park, which is expected to diversify the tourism attractions.”
STUDIES TO ESTABLISH THE IMPACT OF OIL ON MIGRATORY ANIMALS ONGOING
According to park authorities at Murchison Falls National Park, there is ongoing research to study the impact of oil operations on animal movements and behavior in the park. Four elephants have been fitted with collars containing satellites in research conducted by UWA and the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society. He also pointed out that two lions have been collared to monitor the impact on the big cats.
Read MoreCyclist Killed By Rogue Elephant in Murchison Falls Park
The local community around Murchison Falls National Park has been complaining lately about marauding elephants crossing the park boundaries into their precious gardens to eat and destroy their crops.
During a recent incident when locals were chasing away an elephant that had strayed out of the park into their gardens at around 9pm, a 35 year old cyclist Mr. Charles Okello Otyem was very unfortunate to ram into the elephant as it was crossing the road. According to eye witnesses due to the speed at which Mr. Otyem was riding he died instantly. The incident happened at the village of Gwara as Mr. Otyem was riding from the trading center of Diima to the town of Karuma all of which border Murchison Falls National Reserve.
For a longtime now the local community around the park has been complaining to the Uganda Wildlife Authority about the marauding elephants to no avail. Uganda Wildlife Authority the body charged with protecting wildlife in Uganda has not compensated the locals in any way or managed to control the elephants.
Tom Okello the Chief Warden of the Murchison Falls Game Park told the press the Uganda Wildlife Authority regrets the incident and has given food and a coffin to the family of the deceased to help meet the burial expenses. The Chief Warden also appealed to the local community to help Uganda Wildlife Authority in caring for the wildlife in and around the national park.
The local leaders including the Member of Parliament of Nwoya district Mr. Todwong Richard have appealed to the government to help in compensating the local communities whose property and crops have been destroyed by the marauding elephants.
Murchison Falls is the largest national park in Uganda and one of the most visited by tourists. It has wide range of both plant and animal species. However, there has been a high level of poaching by the local communities around the national park and if left unchecked could adversely affect the high volume of tourists visiting the Park. A Murchison falls tour includes a visit to the top of the falls from which the park derives its name as well as birding watching, sport fishing and wildlife game drives.
Read MoreMusambwa Islands Birds Threatened By Fishermen
Lake Victoria is under threat, and the very people this natural resource is supposed to serve are the ones threatening its existence. Until World Environment Day on June 5, in a campaign, Save Lake Victoria, Vision Group media platforms will run investigative stories and commentaries highlighting the irresponsible human activities threatening the world’s second largest fresh water lake. Today, we bring you the story of Musambwa Islands, one of the largest bird breeding places in Africa.
Things are falling apart on Musambwa Islands. Fish catches have dwindled. The fishermen are selling and eating eggs, threatening a tourism industry which rakes in over $800m in revenue.
At least the snakes on the islands are still happy and men only dream of women. But the mother birds are in misery, while the young fish live in constant fear of ending up in a saucepan.
Until recently, Musambwa Islands was perhaps the only place on earth where man and nature co-existed harmoniously, minus women. However today, scarcity of fish has brought an ugly twist.
Location
Found on Lake Victoria in Rakai district, this tiny rocky island is a recognized Ramsar site, an important bird area. It supports large populations of congregatory breeding birds like the grey headed gull, greater cormorant, little egret and the long-tailed cormorant, among others. It is known to be the largest breeding site for African birds.
Over the years, fishermen have been settling on Musambwa and using it as a spring board to reach the deep waters of Lake Victoria. Today, Musambwa hosts about 150 fishermen, yet most of them are too poor to afford motorized boats to fish in far off waters.
Consequently, over fishing close to the shores has depleted fish stocks in waters surrounding the islands. The fishermen use illegal fishing gear and sweep immature fish out of the lake.
With fish stocks no-longer enough to growing populations, fishermen have done away with taboos of the Islands that prohibited the eating of bird eggs and started preying on the eggs.
Myths about the island
In the old days, fishermen lived in harmony with snakes and birds. They earned a living out of fishing while conserving nature by fear of superstitions, taboos and customs.
One of the first people to settle on the island is Mzee Emmanuel Kaberenge. He came to the island in 1964, found many taboos and passed them on to subsequent fishermen.
By then, he says, only four people lived on the islands. Women and sex are prohibited. That initially kept the population small and minimized thefts.
The second myth prevents people from killing snakes as they are believed to be gods. Consequently, Musambwa is the only location on earth where people live with cobras of all sizes, with mutual respect for one another.
The third commandment, which has now collapsed, prohibited fishermen from eating or selling eggs of the thousands of birds that live and breed on the Island.
However, to compensate for loss of income and food from fish, the fishermen have turned to birds for survival. They eat and sell eggs of the thousands of birds which have lived and bred on the islands for centuries.
What authorities say
According to the executive director of Nature Uganda, Achilles Byaruhanga, the population of grey-headed gulls on Musambwa dropped to 30,000 birds, from 120,000 in one year, between 2004 and 2005, due to commercialization of their eggs.
The eggs were increasingly attracting higher commercial value on the mainland, replacing fishing as the major income-generating activity at the island.
However, with Nature Uganda intervention, the bird population has since increased Byaruhanga says.
Nature Uganda, working with other development partners has been sensitizing the fishermen and promoting Musambwa as birding tourist destination.
In Uganda, the tourism sector is the second largest foreign exchange earner. It generated $805m ( sh2b) in foreign exchange in 2011/2012. The sector’s total contribution to GDP is estimated at $1.4b, representing 7.6% of GDP; in 2011 trailing only remittances from abroad.
Uganda a bird paradise
Over half of all bird species in Africa can be found in Uganda, making it the richest African birding destination.
Uganda was recently declared a preferred bird-watching destination 2013/2014, a development expected to uphold the country as the continent’s best birding destination.
Birding is a high end tourism package, where tourists stay longer and spend more on tourism. Birding generates about $6.3m (about sh16m) annually doubling revenue from gorilla tracking and is still growing. Uganda has over 1,000 bird species; accounting for about 50% of birds in Africa and 11% of the global population.
Internationally, Musambwa Islands are known to be the largest breeding site for the African race of the grey-headed gulls in Africa, whose eggs the fishermen eat and sell.
Byaruhanga estimates the price of three eggs at sh1,000 though the fishermen do not want to talk about it.
Despite the importance of birds to the economy, in Musambwa, they have been attacked, with fishermen cutting trees where they nest to construct shelters and for fish smoking.
What spiritualists say
Although Nature Uganda has intervened and is trying to reverse the trends, Joseph Bagorogoza, 67, and has lived on the island for 44 years, says respecting the gods is more effective.
Currently, Bagorogoza is the diviner entrusted with appeasing the gods of the islands. The gods are believed to reside in the numerous cobras on the island. He is the caretaker of a shrine under a fig tree. The ‘holy place’ consists of two spears and a calabash.
People with spiritual needs drop money under the spears as they pray to the gods.
Bagorogoza also keeps white cocks for the gods and only eats them when they grow old. His other work is to tell people not to kill snakes, birds and not to eat birds’ eggs.
Bagorogoza blames newcomers and over fishing for the breakdown of Musambwa Islands cultural norms which initially bonded men and nature together.
“These days even the money for the gods is stolen from the shrine. The thief seems not to know the fury of the gods,’’ he muses. For theft of the cash, he blames a sickly looking old man nicknamed Mutumbafu (Swahili word for a stupid man).
Read MoreUWA Gets New Board Members
The Uganda Wildlife Authority the body charged with the protection and managing of Uganda’s wildlife has been dogged by allegations of misuse of funds for different projects including such as the Protected Areas Management for Sustainable Use – PAMSU fund.
The investigations into the misuse led to the disbandment of the entire board that was replaced by acting directors. The previous board headed by Dr Boysier Oumar Muballe was dissolved by a High Court ruling after it was deemed illegal. However, there has now been a new board of trustees that have been announced. They come from different backgrounds ranging from tour operators, conservationists, hoteliers as well as honorary wildlife officers.
Mr. Ben Otto the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Tourism and Education has been appointed the Chairman of the new Uganda Wildlife Authority Board.
Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu said the new board members have been appointed from various backgrounds basing on their expertise and competence. They took into consideration the different needs and criteria required to be on the board.
However, many stakeholders claim that the appointment of MR. Khan Mani who is a member of the Madhvani Group of Companies who have for a long time now had an interest in building a golf course in Murchison falls national park was not appropriate. Conservationists have for a long time resisted the move although it was approved by the President.
According to Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu however, everyone one has a vested interest in the conservation of wildlife. He also stated that the Wildlife Act has a clause that asks any one to declare their interest in any matter before it is discussed. The Madhivani Group of companies have several safari lodges in the different national parks notably Paraa safari lodge in Murchison falls National park and Mweya safari lodge in Queen Elizabeth national park.
Mr. Mani Khan was appointed to the board as a representative of hoteliers who are a stakeholder in the tourism industry in Uganda. According to Prof. Kamuntu, the board is full of stakeholders who all have an interest in the conservation of the country’s wildlife.
Many legal experts say that if Mr. Khan is to take up his position on the board he should resign his position with the Madhvani group.
According to Mr. Andrew Sseguya, the acting Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the body has been plagued with a shortage of staff with a shortage of over 1,000 game rangers. There has been rampart encroachment on protected areas, poor funding of Uganda’s tourism as well as massive poaching. We ran an article about the state of Uganda national parks with regard to Massive poaching. This article can be found here.
Read MoreUganda Voted Third at ITB
The different World Travel Markets offer Countries and tour operators the world over an opportunity to showcase what they have and curve out a niche in the tourism industry which is the fastest growing industry in the world.
In the recently concluded World Travel Market in Berlin – ITB, several African countries were represented.
During the Travel Markets, different countries have the opportunity to impress the judges because there’s usually a vote for the winners. Small African countries which were once little known by tourists, have used this platform to market their tourism potentials. One of the African tour destinations which has benefited significantly from these World Travel Markets is Rwanda.
For four years this country whose main attraction is the mountain gorillas emerged winner for the continent Africa. It was last year however dethroned by its equally small neighbor – Burundi. In this recently concluded International Travel Market in Berlin however, Morocco emerged as the surprise winner.
Burundi was the runner up and the Pearl of Africa – Uganda came in third. Uganda’s achievement can be attributed to the Lonely Planet which voted Uganda as the best tour destination for 2012 given its peculiarity and uniqueness. The Country boasts of the rare and endangered mountain gorillas, Murchison falls, the third highest mountain in African – Mount Rwenzori among others. The country also has about 50% of all the recorded bird species in Africa. It is truly a birder’s paradise that has been little marketed. Some of the birds found in the Country are endemic.
Rwanda that dominated the continent for the last couple of years came in fourth whereas the other East African country Kenya, came in fifth. Rwanda and Kenya in comparison to its neighbors in the region invest heavily in marketing their tourism potential. For the last couple of years Kenya has been using in the region of $10m to market its tourism industry whereas Rwanda spends close to $5m. Uganda on the other hand has been using a paltry $300,000 on average to market its tourism through the Uganda Tourist Board.
The General Manager of the Uganda Tourist Board Baguma Cuthbert was accompanied by the Minister of the newly formed of Ministry of Tourism Professor Ephraim Kamuntu. They were accompanied by a host of tour operators from the country.
Tour operators and hoteliers use this opportunity to market their safari companies as well as their hotels and safari lodges. It is a good place to network and help boost one’s business.
Read MoreCyclist Killed By Elephant in Murchison Falls National Park
The local community around Murchison Falls National Park has been complaining lately about marauding elephants crossing the park boundaries into their precious gardens to eat and destroy their crops.
During a recent incident when locals were chasing away an elephant that had strayed out of the park into their gardens at around 9pm, a 35 year old cyclist Mr. Charles Okello Otyem was very unfortunate to ram into the elephant as it was crossing the road. According to eye witnesses due to the speed at which Mr. Otyem was riding he died instantly. The incident happened at the village of Gwara as Mr. Otyem was riding from the trading center of Diima to the town of Karuma all of which border Murchison Falls National Reserve.
For a longtime now the local community around the park has been complaining to the Uganda Wildlife Authority about the marauding elephants to no avail. Uganda Wildlife Authority the body charged with protecting wildlife in Uganda has not compensated the locals in any way or managed to control the elephants.
Tom Okello the Chief Warden of the Murchison Falls Game Park told the press the Uganda Wildlife Authority regrets the incident and has given food and a coffin to the family of the deceased to help meet the burial expenses. The Chief Warden also appealed to the local community to help Uganda Wildlife Authority in caring for the wildlife in and around the national park.
The local leaders including the Member of Parliament of Nwoya district Mr. Todwong Richard have appealed to the government to help in compensating the local communities whose property and crops have been destroyed by the marauding elephants.
Murchison Falls National Park is the largest national park in Uganda and one of the most visited by tourists. It has wide range of both plant and animal species. However, there has been a high level of poaching by the local communities around the national park and if left unchecked could adversely affect the high volume of tourists visiting the Park. A Murchison falls tour includes a visit to the top of the falls from which the park derives its name as well as birding watching, sport fishing and wildlife game drives.
Read MoreCounting Hippos in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National park will soon be visited by encumber of tourists that is February and March 2012 to carry out the Hippos counting census in Africa. This is an adventure trip and there is a fee of $100 per day for each seat, but breakfast, lunch and bottled water are included. Volunteers are entitled to go on more than one excursion (daily rate applies). Seats will be available for 12 days (please see regions and dates available for each day, making a total of 24 available seats.
You don’t have to be an African safari expert to become a volunteer hippo census-taker. In fact, if you have never set foot in East or South Africa, you are more than welcome to come along on this adventure.
Read MoreWild Fire Breaks Out in two Ugandan National Parks
The months of December, January and now February have traditionally been very hot in Uganda. As a result there have been a lot of bush fires in many of the upcountry areas in the country. Two of Uganda national parks have not been spared either. Queen Elizabeth National Park and Mountain Rwenzori National Park in Kasese are two of the game reserves in Uganda that have suffered wildfires in the recent weeks.
The situation is being exacerbated by the climate change as well as the activities of poachers in the national parks. Official from the Uganda Wildlife Authority – UWA as well as the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces – UPDF fought the fires for about week and managed to bring it down in Mount Rwenzori national park.
Fires in the Rwenzori National Park
A group of about 30 tourists were doing hiking mount Rwenzori when the fire broke out on Monday. The tourist were at a height of about 4,600m above sea level when this occurred. According to the senior warden who is in-charge of Mountain Rwenzori national park the fires blazed for almost a week.
Mr. Kiiza further said that, “It has always been wet up there during dry season but this time climate change has taken an extra toll to deprive Uganda of its pride as global warming takes its toll on the tourism industry,” He said that, “Our team has worked round the clock since the fire was reported”. In addition he said that many birds and wildlife were killed by the fires negatively affecting the ecosystem and Uganda’s tourism at large.
The fires have destroyed several properties in the area. The director of Rwenzori Trekking Services, Mr. Hunwick John said his property was virtually destroyed and when the fire broke out he had about 20 clients who were doing mountain climbing in the Rwenzoris. However, his clients were safely evacuated from the mountains. The fire break out has made the authorities close Mountain Rwenzori hiking through the Kilembe trails.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
In Queen Elizabeth national park the fires blazed through several acres of land destroying plants and wildlife. It also destroyed several tourist facilities including many Kyambura Safari Lodge cottages.
The inferno destroyed several cotton fields in the communities neighboring Queen Elizabeth national park plus 30 goats in the area of Mubuku.
According to Mr. Guma Nelson, the area conservation manager of Queen Elizabeth national park, the fires have been hard to fight during the day due to the wind gusts which easily spread the fires to the different parts of the park.
Kyambura Safari lodges is a relatively new establishment with good cottages and facilities. It is pity that the fires destroyed half of its Cottages.
Read MoreWild Fire Rages in Queen Elizabeth and Mt. Rwenzori National Park
The months of December, January and now February have traditionally been very hot in Uganda. As a result there have been a lot of bush fires in many of the upcountry areas in the Country. The national parks have not been spared either.
Queen Elizabeth national park and Mountain Rwenzori national park in Kasese are two of the game reserves in Uganda that have suffered wildfires in the recent weeks.
The situation is being exacerbated by the climate change as well as the activities of poachers in the national parks. Official from the Uganda Wildlife Authority – UWA as well as the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces – UPDF fought the fires for about week and managed to bring it down in Mount Rwenzori national park.
A group of about 30 tourists were doing hiking mount Rwenzori when the fire broke out on Monday. The tourist were at a height of about 4,600m above sea level when this occurred. According to the senior warden who is in-charge of Mountain Rwenzori national park the fires blazed for almost a week.
Mr. Kiiza further said that, “It has always been wet up there during dry season but this time climate change has taken an extra toll to deprive Uganda of its pride as global warming takes its toll on the tourism industry,”
He said that, “Our team has worked round the clock since the fire was reported”. In addition he said that many birds and wildlife were killed by the fires negatively affecting the ecosystem and Uganda’s tourism at large.
The fires have destroyed several properties in the area. The director of Rwenzori Trekking Services, Mr. Hunwick John said his property was virtually destroyed and when the fire broke out he had about 20 clients who were doing mountain climbing in the Rwenzoris. However, his clients were safely evacuated from the mountains.
The fire break out has made the authorities close Mountain Rwenzori hiking through the Kilembe trails.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
In Queen Elizabeth national park the fires blazed through several acres of land destroying plants and wildlife. It also destroyed several tourist facilities including many Kyambura Safari Lodge cottages.
The inferno destroyed several cotton fields in the communities neighboring Queen Elizabeth national park plus 30 goats in the area of Mubuku.
According to Mr. Guma Nelson, the area conservation manager of Queen Elizabeth national park, the fires have been hard to fight during the day due to the wind gusts which easily spread the fires to the different parts of the park.
Kyambura Safari lodges is a relatively new establishment with good cottages and facilities. It is pity that the fires destroyed half of its Cottages.
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