Future Generations Alumna from Uganda strengthens partnerships to protect the endangered mountain gorilla

Last year Future Generations Graduate Student from Uganda, Joy Bongyereire, received a $10,000 Davis Peace Prize to reduce conflict among local farmers and Uganda’s wildlife agencies over the management and protection of endangered mountain gorillas. In six months, Joy implemented a strategy that has increased community involvement in nature conservation, leading to more protection for gorillas and more benefits for local people neighboring the parks.

Joy worked with the communities and local governments of Kisoro District bordering Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and Bwini Impenetrable National Park. Combined, these parks provide habitat for an estimated 350 of the world’s remaining 720 mountain gorillas.

Through conversations with communities and a situational analysis, Joy discovered that local farmers were in conflict with Uganda’s wildlife agencies over the mountain gorillas and had even threatened to kill gorillas on their farms. Communities bordering the parks were not receiving an adequate share of the tourism revenue, especially for gorillas located on community lands. And, local farmers complained that mountain gorillas routinely raided their crops. While the national policy and legal framework of Uganda encourages community participation in wildlife protection and management, Joy recognized that partnerships needed to be strengthened and that communities needed to benefit from conservation.

Joy’s strategy, emerging from her lessons as a Future Generations Master’s Degree student, was to train local volunteers as village peace trainers to foster good relations and solutions among villages and wildlife agencies. In addition, Joy worked closely with the Kisoro District Local Government and provided them with tools, ideas, and skills to be more involved in park management, tourism, and conservation activities. Throughout this process, she engaged the support of the Kisoro District Tourism Officer, Richard Munezero, who helped her coordinate numerous stakeholder meetings. Joy’s other activities included baseline surveys to assess the community’s attitudes, workshops for native Pygmies (Batwa) and non-Batwa, and awareness programs and dialogue on the local FM radio station.

Recently, Joy and the Kisoro District Tourism Officer revisited communities to follow-up with the peace trainers and monitor progress. One key outcome was a new plan of the Kisoro District Local Government to encourage tea planting in the national park’s buffer zones. Since tea is not part of gorillas’ or other animals’ diets, it is an easier cash-crop to manage and protect. Joy describes this as one of the first projects to benefit local livelihoods since the parks were created in the early 1990s.

Another sign of success is increased community participation in various organizational and agency stakeholder meetings regarding park management. Communities are also investing some of their tourism funds into the upkeep of stone buffer walls and growing  Mauritius thorn, which deter gorillas from raiding farms.

Joy’s efforts contribute to the work of other organizations in the region to ensure that communities benefit more fairly from Uganda’s estimated $225 million in gorilla tourism revenue. Since Joy began her work more organizations and community groups can apply directly to the Uganda Wildlife Agency for tourism permits to track and see gorillas in the parks, and policy makers continue to review revenue sharing and levy and foreign tourist permit fees.

Joy’s initiative and the work of the village peace trainers have helped to change attitudes among community members and governments toward the role of local people in conservation management. Joy notes that, “It is excellent for the community to take creative initiatives. This can lead to great success in conservation, just like our master’s degree class observed in Nepal during our visit to community forests."

Joy continues to work in Kisoro District as a Program Officer of Africa 2000 Network-Uganda. She will continue working with her village peace trainers, motivating their ongoing volunteer service through incentives such as bicycles, which can be used in their promotional work as well as for small businesses.

For more information about how you can help, please contact Joy Bongyereire at bonjoys98@yahoo.com or bcrd.uganda@gmail.com.

Also, for those who wish to contribute to gorilla conservation, the Government of Uganda has the initiative, “Befriend a Gorilla” campaign. See http://www.friendagorilla.org/ for more details.

Kathryn Davis, founder of the Davis Peace Prize, awards $10,000 to 100 students every year to implement grassroots peace projects. For more information, visit davisprojectsforpeace.org.