The Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Retired Col. Tom Butime has said this year’s World Wildlife Day celebrations will among other things showcase digital innovations and technological tools being used in different facilities to reinforce conservation.
This, he said, is aimed at inspiring practitioners to strengthen ongoing efforts to protect wildlife and act as a benchmarking platform for the youths who have embraced the use of technology in everyday life.
Minister Butime made these remarks during the media launch of the World Wildlife Day activities ahead of the official celebration on March 3rd in Kyenjojo District.
This year’s celebration is themed, “Connecting People and Planet and leveraging technology & innovation.”
“Digital innovations offer unique opportunities to redefine the connection between people and the planet. Exploiting the potential of technologies can lead our World to a sustainable future, establishing a harmonious relationship between the environment and its inhabitants. The 2024 World Wildlife Day celebrations will, therefore, focus on raising awareness about the application of digital technologies and interventions to promote wildlife conservation and management and sharing emerging positive impacts on ecosystems and livelihoods in Uganda,” the Minister said.
The celebrations, he added, will highlight new technological tools and related developments to complement Uganda’s efforts in safeguarding biodiversity and harnessing benefits from wild animals and plants.
The celebrations will highlight key examples of digital innovations that have been used to enhance wildlife conservation efforts and, hence, could inspire practitioners to strengthen ongoing efforts to protect wildlife. Our youths have embraced the use of technology in everyday life.
“Accordingly, the 2024 International World Wildlife Day celebrations will target the youths and leverage partnerships with other key stakeholders like schools, communities, civil society organizations, and political leaders to disseminate information on the use of technology in wildlife conservation and the need for enhanced collaboration,” the Minister said.
He added, “My Ministry will promote more investments and research into these digital approaches to ensure we secure a future where humans and wildlife thrive and live in harmony.”
This year, several activities have been organized to celebrate the day as follows:
- The conference highlighting recent wildlife research and biodiversity conservation findings is scheduled for 22nd February 2024 in Kampala.
- Wildlife Conservation Competitions for Schools will be conducted virtually, focusing on Conservation Quiz, Poem, essay writing, and Art, where winners will be announced during the Main Celebrations. These will take place on the following dates:
Primary School Competitions (Music, Dance, and Drama including Poetry) – 27th February 2024;
ii. Secondary School Competitions (Art and Music Dance and Drama including Art) –24th February 2024;
iii. Tertiary Institutions Competitions (Quiz and Creative Writing) 23rd February, 2024 5 - National Conservation Awards to recognize eminent persons that have contributed towards sustainable Wildlife Conservation in Uganda will take place on 3rd March 2024, the day for the Main Celebrations;
- Cranes Festival in Rubaya Sub-County, Mbarara district, to raise awareness on and highlight the Conservation issues affecting the Cranes, Uganda’s National Birds;
- The National Wildlife Marathon scheduled for 25 February 2024 is intended to raise awareness of wildlife conservation issues in the general public. Proceeds from the Marathon contribute to securing education for Wildlife Rangers who have died in the line of duty.
- The National World Wildlife Day Celebrations and Exhibitions are on 3rd March 2024 at Kyenjojo, District.
As per statistics from the Ministry, to date, improved conservation has yielded promising results, with populations on a steady recovery.
For instance, between 1983 and 2021, buffaloes increased from 25,000 to 44,163, elephants rose from 2000 to 7,975, and giraffes increased from 350 to 2,072.
Similarly, the number of mountain gorillas has increased from 320 to 459 between 1999 and 2022. The Government has successfully reintroduced Rhinos in Uganda, which had gone extinct in the early 1980s. The initial population of 8 has successfully bred and multiplied to the current population of over 32 individuals.
However, the Minister emphasized, more efforts are required to halt threats such as poaching, retaliatory killings, deforestation, and encroachment on wildlife habitats noting that some of these threats continue to affect key species such as chimpanzees and lions.