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The Costs of Conservation

The conservation of rainforests such as Bwindi is vital to the ecosystems that we all depend on. The benefits of conservation are shared by all of us, but the costs are paid by the people living near protected areas.

The ecological crisis that precipitated the need for protected areas was not caused, on the whole, by the people who are left to pay the costs, who include some of the poorest people in our global community. Climate change is already affecting Uganda and other African countries yet Africa as a whole contributes only an estimated 4% to global CO2 emissions - mostly from deforestation rather than industrial emissions. Global warming is affecting rainfall and agriculture; for example some areas of Uganda that were previously able to produce 2 crops each year can now only produce one. (source: Oxfam)

The region around Bwindi is a rural area with a subsistence economy. Before the rainforest was designated a National Park it was an important source of food, fuel, medicines and other essential for local people.

The local communities now have only very restricted access to the resources of the forest., severely affecting the livelihoods of poor families. The most severely affected are the Batwa people, who lived a hunter gatherer lifestyle in the forest until being evicted in the name of conservation and forced to live as landless squatters on the land adjoining their former home. Hunting was redefined as poaching and many have died trying to feed their families. Infant mortality is amongst the highest in the world, and in 2000 their life expectancy was 28 years. Find out more about the Batwa people.

Eco-tourism

Tourism brings benefits to the wider economy of countries but rarely to local people, who lack the education and financial assets needed to start businesses or to work in the better paid jobs created by tourism. Some work in the tourist industry as guides or other jobs but many workers are shipped in from cities or from abroad. Tourism increase local prices, with the increased demand for food and land.

Friends of Bwindi aim to assist local people in accessing the opportunities offered by tourism by supporting education and income generating projects.