conservation -uganda As the world was changing to the community approach for conservation of protected areas, Uganda did not settle for the ordinary. The community approach was seen as a pro-people conservation strategy that was meant to draw people to understanding the significance of wildlife conservation and create a positive thinking of the existence of the protected areas since the local people had proved dangerous enough to these gazetted areas which they considered to be wasteland and denial by the authorities to their enjoyment of the offers on nature. The Uganda’s National Parks which are always visited by travelers on safaris in Uganda were among the targeted.
Uganda Wildlife Authority launched the revenue sharing scheme as part of this strategy implementation and the communities surrounding the protected areas were to get 20% out of the entrance fees that are charged from the Uganda safari undertakers. The move was seen as a positive trend towards the building of a sustainable conservation program-me and for the first time the communities which were affected by the gazzettion and wildlife attacks started to benefit directly from the parks. The money gathered would be put to the district account for community development and projects like schools, health centers and water points were put up along with other aspects that deemed relevant to the respective communities surrounding the parks.
However, the issues of local corruption could not allow the projects run smoothly and be 100% relevant to community. The community leaders and the elites began to take advantage of the majority less educated and as thus the people gained less from what otherwise would have yielded a gross impact to their societies. The projects like schools were built but under the shoddy arrangement and would collapse soon after their completion. The other hurdle is noted to be the low levels of education among the communities that surround these protected areas which have got verdant wildlife that at time attract world travelers to plan safaris to Uganda. The low education level means that the people will not participle equitably in the decision making and thus may not even know about the running of the revenue sharing project. This makes them less compliant and thus failing to change their long held perceptions about the protected areas which they see as nothing other than a waste land.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority in its new arrangement is trying to ensure that instead of remitting money to the local government for the district to decide on what to use the money for, the amount should be disbursed directly to the surrounding communities be it parishes that are every close tot to the park such that the local people agree on the project and do it themselves under the Project Management Committee. This is intended to inculcate the sense of ownership thus creating a good attitude to conservation. However, the district officials are not in line with this kind of arrangement citing lack of capacity among the locals to handle such projects. Albeit the hurdles, the revenue sharing initiative is seen as a strategy that can increasingly further the community approach in the conservation of Uganda’s National Parks.
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