Uganda plans to fence off national parks

My first encounter with gorillas was seeing this male silverback and his family eating the corn in this field
With the population of most African countries booming the conflict between people and wildlife is becoming a serious problem. I remember crossing into DRC from Uganda on a gorilla trekking trip and seeing a group of these magnificent animals sitting in a farmers field, nonchalantly eating the corn (see the photo I took above).
This type of conflict not only leads to damaged crops (the farmers in my gorilla encounter were apparently compensated on a regular basis) but more seriously, attacks on locals. In retaliation local communities often kill the wildlife involved.
To try to prevent this, the Ugandan government have announced plans to physically fence off some parks. Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Mr Ephraim Kamuntu, explained that Murchison Falls National Park would be the first affected under this scheme. He said:
“In the short term, to mitigate this human-wildlife conflict, we have started digging trenches to prevent the animals from crossing into the gardens of the communities destroying the lives and crops of the people. But in the long run with the funds available we shall fence off all the major national parks starting with Murchison Park where rampant damage has been encountered.”
The scheme is not unique to Uganda as Kenya was the first country to implement fences, with Mt Kenya National Park being the most recent to benefit just last year.
To book a tailor-made trip to Uganda, call one of our country specialists on 01993 838 575 or contact us online.











Recent Comments