389,082 Number of hectares protected and/or with improved conservation status due to AWF interventions beginning in 2016
33,339 Number of people benefiting from AWF's conservation efforts in Uganda
5 of 6 Wildlife populations supported by AWF in Uganda that are stable/increasing
Uganda
Uganda is home to the largest freshwater lake on the continent and significant biodiversity, but its rich natural resources are threatened by a push for development to serve a growing population. We are helping to realize a prosperous Uganda in which wildlife and healthy ecosystems are the bedrock for community and national development through people-centered conservation, policy development, and protected area support.
Our work reflects a holistic strategy that includes:
- Community empowerment, especially through livelihoods development and human-wildlife conflict mitigation
- Technical support for the creation of Uganda’s first community conservancies
- Community/private partnerships to enhance community resilience and quality of life
- Counter-wildlife-trafficking support to protect threatened wildlife
Currently, we operate in two landscapes that together are home to elephants, gorillas, chimps, and other endangered species.
Kidepo
Tucked into Uganda’s northernmost boundary with Kenya and South Sudan, the Kidepo landscape has more than 30 protected and conserved areas, including three national parks. At approximately 136,000 square kilometers, it is one of the region’s most intact conservation landscapes. Challenges include human-wildlife conflict, climate change, agricultural expansion, livestock encroachment, gold and oil extraction, infrastructure development, and poaching.
Our partner communities are spread across 956 square kilometers of community wildlife areas and six districts—Karenga, Kaabong, Abim, Kotido, Kitgum, and Agago—meaning we reach 370,000 people over 9,500 square kilometers.
Our conservation work in this vital landscape includes:
- Empowering communities through training and microenterprise
- Enhancing climate change adaptation and resilience
- Mitigating human-wildlife conflict and implementing species recovery and action plans
- Promoting sustainable land management through conservancies and collaborative land-use planning
- Equipping rangers and providing training in ecological monitoring, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and wildlife law enforcement
- Empowering youth through environmental education and awareness
Murchison Falls
Located at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda's largest and oldest conservation area is home to an array of mammals, bird species, reptiles, and amphibians. Threats include oil extraction, human-wildlife conflict, climate change, agricultural expansion, human-settlement expansion, infrastructure development, poaching, and insecurity.
We began working in this landscape in 2013, partnering with communities to realize conservation solutions that benefit people and wildlife. Our activities include:
- Promoting sustainable land management through conservancies and participatory land-use planning
- Enhancing climate change adaptation and resilience
- Strengthening the capacity of wildlife law enforcement agencies
- Mitigating human-wildlife conflict and implementing species recovery and action plans
- Empowering youth through environmental education and awareness