National Park Gets Visitor Center

In July 2006, the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Visitor Center officially opened, welcoming tourists who come to southern Uganda to trek the endangered mountain gorillas. The opening of the visitor center marks an important milestone for environmental tourism in the park. The visitor center will enhance tourism services and facilities, thereby contributing to increased revenues for local communities. It will also help educate both international tourists and Ugandan visitors about the park’s endangered inhabitants.

AWF’s Virunga Heartland – a vast region in central Africa which includes Mgahinga Park – is home to all of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. This gorilla habitat is surrounded by a large and growing human population, a population remains very poor. AWF believes that unless the park is managed as part of a larger landscape, outside pressures will eventually overwhelm the park’s resources and increase the threat to the mountain gorilla population.

The Mgahinga Visitor Center consists of an exhibit hall that focuses on mountain gorilla ecology, the geology of the Virunga Mountains, and the history and current conservation strategies of the park. Information related to local Ugandan culture is also a part of the exhibit. The Visitor Center also includes an education and training center to hold workshops and meetings that will allow local communities to address conservation issues and an elevated platform where visitors can take in the sweeping views of the rich surrounding landscape.

The visitor center was developed by the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP), of which AWF is a founder, with funding from USAID and other donors including the Prince of Denmark through WWF, Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Jane Goodall Institute, Africare (Uganda) and Hima Cement Factory.

With the success of the Mgahinga Visitor Center, IGCP is in the process of facilitating the development of cultural centers throughout the region. These centers, like the Kinigi Cultural Center and Community Walk already operational in Rwanda, provide space for tourists and residents alike to actively engage in the rich local culture as well as alternative income opportunities for communities. IGCP is taking the lessons learned from Kinigi and is now working with communities in Rubuguli, neighboring Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, as well as Bukima, neighboring Virunga National Park in the DRC.