Lake Mburo Tours & Conservation Society

Lake Mburo Tours & Conservation Society intends to carry out conservation of biodiversity of Lake Mburo National Park and its surrounds and development of sustainable nature based livelihoods through ecotourism, research, management and education of the local communities around plus promoting the culture of the people around the park so as to sensitise them about conservation plus preservation of

their culture and the park. Lake Mburo Tours & Conservation Society will run as an ecotourism business entity though it will work with a Community Based Organisation called Lake Mburo Tours & Conservation Society by channeling a considerable percentage of its profits in the CBO’s development ventures which will include supporting biodiversity conservation and social upliftment of Lake Mburo National Park and the surroundings. Engaging in conservation, rehabilitation and protection of the natural environment, including flora and fauna of Lake Mburo National Park and in the surrounding region in Kiruhura District;

2. The promotion of, and education and training programs relating to, environmental awareness, greening, clean-up and sustainable development projects;

3. The provision of education by an adult education “college” aligned with the Agricultural Set-up, including horticulture, conservation, ecotourism and life skills education;

4. Training unemployed women in sustainable agriculture and life skills development with the purpose of enabling graduates to grow and sell their own food;

5. Research including ecological, educational, social, scientific and technological research on conservation, rehabilitation or protection of the natural environment, including flora, fauna or the biosphere;

6. The development of youth sports facilities as a tool to integrate society, provide a healthy lifestyle for the youth and promote environmental awareness amongst all communities;

7. The utilization of income received from donors to pursue the above activities;

8. The development of an indigenous plant nursery that will generate income for the above activities. Lake Mburo National Park is a very special place; every part of it is alive with variety, interest and colour. It contains an extensive area of wetland and also harbours several species of mammals and birds found nowhere else in Uganda. Its sculptured landscape, with rolling hills and idyllic lake shores has a varied mosaic of habitats; forest galleries, seasonal and permanent swamps, and rich acacia-woodland, and grassy valleys which all support a wealth of wildlife. At 260 km2, Lake Mburo National Park is small in comparison with many other East African parks, but with its mosaic of habitats – dry hillsides, rocky outcrops, bushy thickets, open and wooded savannas, forest, lakes and swamps – are home to a surprising diversity of plants and animals. At the centre of the Park is Lake Mburo, which together with 14 other lakes in the area forms part of a wetland system. This system is linked by a swamp some 50 km long, fed by the Ruizi river on the western side. Five lakes, of which the larges is Lake Mburo, occur within the Park’s boundary. Almost a fifth of the Park’s area consists of wetlands – both seasonally flooded and permanent swamps. The various types of swamps are home to a wide variety of wetland birds, and the shy, rare sitatunga antelope. Lake Mburo ‘s surface and its fringing vegetation are always changing, and it is delightful to take a boat out and experience the lake’s moods. Lake Mburo National Park lies in a rain shadow between Lake Victoria and the Rwenzori Mountains, and receives an average of 800 mm of rain a year. Being near the equator, the rainfall pattern is bimodal, with the long rains occurring from February to June, and the short rains from September to December. The rains are rather erratic and unpredictable, but most rain tends to fall in April and November. The average recorded temperature is 27.5¡ãC with daily variations ranging from 21.5¡ãC to 34.0¡ãC. July and August are the hottest months. The Park lies between 1219 and 1828 m above sea level. High hills and rocky, eroded ridges characterize the western part of the Park; here deep valleys support the forest found nowhere else. In the eastern sector, the rolling, wooded hills are intersected by wide, flat bottomed valleys, which are seasonally flooded and drain into the swamps and lakes. The Ruizi river flows in a south-easterly direction and forms part of the western boundary of the Park. Lake Mburo and its associated wetlands eventually drain into Lake Victoria. The Park is underlain by very ancient (more than 500 million years old) Precambrian metamorphic rocks which belong to the ‘basement system’. Most of the soils in Lake Mburo are heavy clay and loams soils. Although surrounded by lakes there is hardly any ground water in Lake Mburo National Park due to the deep clay soils preventing any water from entering deep into the ground. Conflict between the park and the local people

In 1935, the colonial government declared the area around Lake Mburo as a controlled hunting area. In 1940’s, a severe outbreak of sleeping sickness, carried by the tsetse flies, forced all pastoralists out of the area leaving only farmers and fishermen. This was followed by a drastic tsetse eradication program in the 1950’s, with a premise, that every last wild animal in the area be killed so that the blood sucking tsetse flies would surely starve to extinction. So many African hunters were ordered to shoot every single animal irrespective of age or s*x. The wildlife was wiped out almost out of existence and after the grass fires, in July 1950, the whole area was scattered with skeletons and carcasses. However, some elusive animals such duikers and bush bucks did survive, thus ensuring the survival of tsetse flies. When the authorities realized that it was not possible to eradicate the tsetse flies completely, they decided to eradicate the bushes and trees around which it lived. Hundreds of Kilometers of bush and trees were burnt and cut. However, when the first rains fell, a dense cover of secondary under growth established itself, offering enough cover for the tsetse fly to survive. The authorities finally decided to spray every inch of Ankole area with insecticide. These resulted in the ultimate elimination of the tsetse fly but with an ecological cost since most of the insect species such as small mammals and insectivorous birds were wiped out. In the early 1060’s, the bahima pastoralists returned back to the controlled hunting area since the tsetse flies had been eradicated. To protect the remaining wildlife, the newly independent Ugandan government at that time created the Lake Mburo game reserve. However, some of the wildlife which survived, including the park’s lions were being poached and killed by the local herders because they occasionally hunted their cattle and also given their long standing reputation as man eaters. In 1983, the Obote government gazetted Lake Mburo as a National Park establishing the boundaries along with those of the original reserve and possibly evicting 45,000 families without compensation. The park opened to the public in 1984 though the residents who were evicted and their fields destroyed were not happy with the eviction. Many local habitants around the park had negative impressions about the park. When the civil war in Uganda at the time, reached it peak in 1986, many people returned and destroyed the park facilities. Subsistence poaching once again took its toll. In 1987, after the removal of the Obote government, and the coming to power of the Museveni government, a task force was established to resolve the conflict between the park and the people. It was decided that the park remains but reduce in area by 16%. Some families awaiting reallocation and pastoralists with no land else where were allowed to remain in the park. Fishing was allowed but the number of canoes in operation was controlled. However tension between the park and the surrounding communities still remained. In 1991, the Mburo community conservation unit with the assistance of African Wildlife Foundation, appointed a community representative for each of the neighbouring countries to work hand in hand with the park management to solve all issues affecting the remaining inhabitants. By 1997, all the remaining inhabitants were reallocated outside the park borders and awarded some financial compensation. In addition, since 1995, 20% of the park entrance fees are being used for the construction of local clinics and schools. The community Conservation unit in the Park, since its establishment, is consistently working with the local people in developing park management plans and also form park management advisory committee’s which enable representatives to discuss their problems.