Gerald Tenywa
14 April 2008
Kampala — Although the residents had gorillas in their neighbourhoods, they were not reaping like their counterparts at Buhoma village, 14km away.
Residents of Buhoma run a tourist camp and a community village walk, which has stopovers at a traditional healer's shrine, a blacksmith's, a local brewer's and gives tourists the opportunity to watch the Batwa cultural dance.
Nkuringo residents wanted the same set-up so that they could also benefit from gorilla tourism, so they entered into negotiations with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) about a decade ago.
Now the Nkuringo initiative is a far bigger deal. Instead of cheap accommodation like that in Buhoma, the Nkuringo residents have secured $250,000 (sh424m)â-àto build a luxury facility, which will be managed under a partnership with Uganda Safari Company. The safari company will provide $750,000 (sh1.2b) as the running costs during the 10-year lease.
UWA works with Nkuringo communities under the facilitation of two NGOs - International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) and the Africa Wildlife Foundation - to empower the communities. The Nkuringo population, which is estimated at 30,000, has a chance to benefit from the Nkuringo Conservation Development Foundation (NCDF), which was created to spearhead the development and conservation initiatives at Nkuringo. Formed five years ago, NCDF currently has 3,000 members.
Mark Mwine, the IGCP regional enterprise officer, predicts that with occupancy of the eco-lodge estimated at 60%, residents of Nkuringo are likely to earn $100,000 (sh169m) every year. He also says the concept is a tool for improving livelihoods and maintaining the endangered species.
"This is a threat-abatement tool. The threat are the people living outside the protected area, because they are poor and look at the park as Government property. They can kill the gorillas because the apes live on their land. For people to protect gorillas, they have to earn something from them," Mwine says. He points out the eco-lodge will be a source of income for the people.
Already some residents, like Fabiano Barishesha, together with about 40 of his colleagues, work at the luxury eco-lodge as cooks and builders. They also hope that it will create market for their products like fruits, mushrooms and handicrafts.
On the side of the road to Rubuguri parish, a group of women crush stones that are used as building material for the eco-lodge. The eco-lodge, standing on a hilltop in Nkuringo, is seen as "a paradise" in the wilderness. It has a commanding view of the Muhavura ranges and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, overlooking the western rift valley.
Wrangles with rivals
Tour companies and investors in the tourism sector that have been edged out of the gorilla tourism business at Nkuringo are bitter, referring to the whole deal as a "monopoly".
To Mwine, however, their rivals are only looking at sharing the benefits of gorilla tourism. "But it is impossible to talk about benefits without discussing the costs. There are also two groups of gorillas that are being habituated, I do not see why the investors do not get interested in those two groups."
Barishesha says: "This is the time to turn gorillas that had become a problem into a money-harvesting venture. People who do not want to benefit with us as a community should rear cows."
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