Local communities around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park came together on World Gorilla Day to demonstrate their commitment to mountain gorilla conservation through a comprehensive day of environmental activities organised by Change a Life- Bwindi in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) among other key enterprises around the protected area such as Agandi lodges, Asilia, among others.
The celebration, held under the theme the, “Community Responsibility towards Conservation of Mountain Gorillas and Ending Plastic Use,” also brought together other diverse stakeholders including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Max Planck Institute, Ecosia, Kabale University, and Kanungu District Local Government.
Christine Katushabe, founder of Change a Life Bwindi, emphasised the importance of local ownership in conservation efforts during the day’s events.
“Protection of African forests should be done by Africans. The future of our forests is in our hands,” Katushabe stated, adding; “for a long time, everything was done by locals, but whites take indigenous knowledge without locals benefiting.”
The highlight of the conservation efforts was an ambitious tree planting initiative that saw 2,000 indigenous trees planted across the region.
The project featured 50 different indigenous tree species and successfully restored 65 acres out of a planned 100-acre conservation area. “We want to mentor each child so that when they grow up, they appreciate and take on the role of conservation in the communities,” explained Katushabe,
highlighting the educational component of the initiative,” Katushabe added.
This year’s World Gorilla Day celebration underscores the critical role local communities play in protecting Uganda’s mountain gorilla population and their habitat.
With slightly above 1,000 mountain gorillas remaining in the wild, community-driven conservation efforts are essential for the species’ survival.
The mountain gorilla population in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park represents more than half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, making community conservation efforts in this region critically important for the species’ global survival.
Dr James Musinguzi, the UWA executive director said the celebrations emphasise the collective actions taken so, and the journey ahead to protect and conserve the gorillas.
He noted that 70% of the tourism revenue comes from gorillas. Musinguzi also revealed that together with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the telecom companies, UWA is setting up 69 telecom masts in and around several protected areas across the country in order to enhance connectivity and visitor experience.
Juliana Kagwa, the UTB chief executive officer pointed out the importance of gorillas to Uganda’s economy saying, the number of tourists visiting gorilla habitats have been increasing post COVID-19. “A total of 50,726 tourists visited Bwindi-Mgahinga conservation area last year 2024, higher than 48,568 tourists who visited the same gorilla protected area in the year 2023 and 38,105 in 2022,” she observed.
Kagwa underscored the importance of tourism- to which gorillas play a vital role saying, the sector contributed 6.6% to Uganda’s GDP and directly supported 803,691 jobs in the last financial year.
The World Gorilla Day celebration activities that took place in Bwindi’s Ruhija sector included, Sports activities to engage the youth, general environmental cleaning, strategic installation of waste bins, educational exhibitions, public awareness campaigns through community dialogue, large-scale indigenous tree planting among others. The gorilla census continues to be carried out in Bwindi national park to determine the actual individuals that browse the South-Western landscapes.