Another conservation landmark has been achieved by Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) in Rwenzori region, western Uganda. UCOTA recently completed development of the Buraro community Forest management Plan and training of 45 household farmers and several conservation stakeholders in forest conservation. The training was aimed at enhancing community natural resources (Buraru community forest) conservation to ease implementation of the forest management plan. This intervention raised conservation awareness to wider community than had ever been reached and mobilised other conservation stakeholders in the area to elicit collective effort to mitigate the rampant indigenous forest degradation. The program involved local leaders, conservation rangers from Rwenzori Mountains National Park, community household farmers and RCCDP membership in categories of tourist guides, secretariat and board members.
The forest conservation training and management planning program was organised with support from WWF’s Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program (EFN). A step by step process that involved collective effort of the forest users and stakeholders was used. In a five months consultative conservation program , UCOTA worked with the community, members of Ruboni Community Conservation Development Program and the local expert forester to train communities, collect forest data, hold meetings with the farmers that own land close to the forest, assess the forest land use threats, opportunities and strengths. The information obtained during the long and hands-on process was used to develop the forest management plan.
Through participatory mapping, the community took on the task to draw the forest map indicating trails, zone areas with differences in vegetation densities and map sketches of trails for effective regular monitoring of the forest. The committee also identified possible strategies with related broad activities to be undertaken for the operative future conservation of the forest. Forest buffer zone management was emphasised especially in areas where the forest touches community gardens to ensure continued boundary recognition by all. The Forest management plan notably contains forest conservation byelaws, detailed first year implementation plan, dominant plant and animal species and their common locations, and names of families with land adjacent to the forest. Copy of the management plan can be got in print from UCOTA or RCCDP offices.
Way forward, RCCDP will undertake the collaborative training of selected community members and staff in forest management and monitoring, and follow up partnerships to support actualisation of the forest management plan. Some of such conservation partnerships include collaborations between RCCDP with the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, World Wild Fund (WWF), Eco-Trust Uganda, local government forestry department and other conservation stakeholders as mentioned in the plan.
Buraru forest is an indigenous forest in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park buffer zone that sits on 100 acres of land purchased by the RCCDP over the past 12 years. The community aim for conserving the Buraru forest is to enhance community nature based tourism activities, create a community owned natural resource bank and buffer between community and National Park to reduce park illegal activities as well as creating a community based nature conservation paradigm, carbon sink and training/ leisure ground.
With the increase in population and changes in climate, indigenous community forests neighboring Rwenzori Mountains National Park have shrunk. Communities have cut them down for virgin cultivation land and other benefits like timber, building poles and fuel wood. Very few and isolated forest pockets still stand on community land yet the demand for these resources increase day after day. In the future, we expect to see the indigenous forest flourishing and its coverage increasing in this area as a result of this ten years forest management plan.
Uganda Community Tourism Association 