Being a man and biosphere reserve as designated by UNESCO in 1979, Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) has unique challenges as regards conservation and harmonizing interaction between man and the wildlife.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an Intergovernmental Scientific Programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
There are 11 fishing villages inside Queen Elizabeth National Park whose population growth and explosion is frustrating efforts of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) towards conservation and protection of animals.
According to UWA Head of Communications Bashir Hangi, people in the fishing enclaves are undertaking activities most of which, lately, are not palatable with wildlife conservation and are increasing risks of human-wildlife conflict.
Destruction of crops, bodily injury and death occasioned by man’s encounters with wild animals, predation on livestock by stray animals, killing of species by angry community members among other human-wildlife conflicts are a common news item around Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Speaking to journalists during a tour of the communities around the park, Hangi noted that despite the various interventions put in place to mitigate the conflict, UWA can only go so far as long as the population in the nearby communities is growing rapidly, forcing people to engage in more economic activities that not only encroach on park land but also, unfortunately, lure animals to the communities.
“Within a man and biosphere reserve like Queen Elizabeth National Park, harmonizing operations of the conservationists and the activities of the inhabitants is nearly impossible because for example, it becomes hard to differentiate between a community member and a poacher, and we can’t deter them from using parts of the park like roads to access services. The most effective way for conservationists to do their work is to have no human inhabitants within the park,” he said.
He noted that for every deadly encounter between an animal and community member or loss occasioned by an animal, regardless of whose fault it was, UWA is liable to make compensations and though legally provided for in the Wildlife Act 2019, “these resources would otherwise be used to better conservation works.”
Section 85 of the Uganda Wildlife Act 2019 provides for compensation of loss of human life, injuries and damage of property caused by animals outside protected areas. The fishing enclaves in QENP are also recognized as such.
Interventions
UWA has put in place a number of interventions to reduce the human-wildlife conflict as well as reinforce conservation. These, alongside other awareness efforts, are aimed at bettering the relationship between the animals, the community and the conservationists for mutual benefit and sustainability of the biosphere reserve.
Among the interventions is the electric wire fence which locals say has given them a sigh of relief against invasion of elephants and other animals that would raid their gardens, homes and wreak havoc.
Electric Wire Fencing
In 2018, UWA embarked on the installation of solar-powered electric fences around the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, aiming at covering the known problem animal hot spots. The electric fence deters mammals as big as elephants from straying into the neighboring communities.
The current flowing through the wire fence is repulsive in nature so it shocks the animal upon touch but does not kill them.
The stations have solar panels, each with a capacity of 100amps and batteries each of 200amps thus generating 12 volts. The stations are equipped with energizers which convert the 12 volts into 10KVs, equivalent to 10,000 volts. The energizer further converts this high voltage into repulsive current that simply shocks the animal when contact is made but doesn’t kill it. Each power station serves a stretch of 5km.
In addition to keeping the animals away from the communities, the wire fence initiative is a source of employment for locals who work in the technical operations department and casual maintenance of the field along the line. This feeds into UWA’s objective of raising household income of the locals through pro conservation strategies.
Godfrey Kagoro, a fence supervisor for the Kasese section is responsible for monitoring the functioning of the fence; reporting breakage for immediate repair, overseeing the maintenance of vegetation at a constant low height to avoid contact with the wire (contact from grass and other vegetation reduces the current flowing through the wire) and generally ensuring its proper functionality.
“On the side of the community, the people are appreciating this installation because its performance as regards keeping animals away from their gardens is unquestionable. Where I com from in Muhokya, we are people who do a lot of cultivation, planting maize, bananas and other crops. Before the wire fence, elephants would come and raid the gardens and families would have nothing to eat. This has since changed and there has not been crossing of animals, except for places where the fence has not reached yet,” Kagoro said.
Under Kagoro, scores of youth work as fencers; maintaining the short vegetation along the wire line, patrolling the stretch and making repairs when need arises.
According to Silvest Masereka, the Assistant Warden Community Protection in the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, the initiative was started in Rubirizi District with 5km on pilot basis.
He noted that the electric wire fence initiative was benchmarked from Kenya where it is used especially around Nairobi National Park.
“Some Ugandans have taken trainings in Kenya for further technical guidance and they have the capacity to do the installation of the wire fence.”
“After assessing the performance of the fence in Rubirizi, it was extended to other areas. In Rubirizi, there are 19.5 km of the fence, 29.2km in Kasese and we are planning to add 64km more to some parts of Kasese, Rubirizi and Kitagwenda,” Masereka said.
Testimonials
Andrew Mutera, the LCI Chairman of Rutooke Cell in Muhokya ward Kasese District says the installation of the electric fence has saved the community losses occasioned by animals that stray from the park and destroy their gardens.
Speaking to a team of journalists who visited the crop gardens thriving at the edge of the park in Rutooke, Mutera said for a long time, his people had been dealing with attacks from animals which killed locals from time to time. He noted that people had resorted to staying up all night to guard against the problem animals.
“In fact, my former secretary at the Council was killed by an elephant. Many other such cases were being registered from time to time and our people lived in constant fear of what could happen next. All these problems, however, are now a thing of the past since the government, through UWA, responded to our call. We have not registered new cases of animal attacks, except in other villages where the fencing has not been done yet,” he said.
Other measures employed to mitigate the human-wildlife conflict include but not limited to digging of trenches, guarding and patrolling, and community involvement through the community wildlife scout initiative.
