INVESTING IN FORESTS AND PROTECTED AREAS FOR CLIMATE-SMART DEVELOPMENT (IFPA-CD) PROJECT

PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF QUEEN ELIZABETH PROTECTED AREA ELECTRIC FENCE IN KASESE, KITAGWENDA AND RUKUNGIRI DISTRICTS

Uganda Wildlife Authority has been grappling with the challenge of Human Wildlife Conflict since creation. The Authority, together with surrounding communities and partners, has deployed a number of initiatives to address this challenge including digging trenches, planting unpalatable crops such as red chili, cotton, coffee along the boundary, bee hives, use of community scouts among others. Despite the numerous efforts, the challenge of HWCs still persists and this has increased friction between community and park management.

In 2018, Uganda Wildlife Authority in collaboration with Space for Giants started implementing electric fencing to contribute to the already existing initiatives to curb human wildlife conflict. This was piloted in Queen Elizabeth National Park under the Public Private Partnership arrangement and was later extended to Murchison Falls National Park.

The objective of the electric fence is to reduce the human wildlife conflict especially elephants which are affecting the agricultural community around the National Parks.