Mabira Forest – Home to Endangered Species
Embattled by those who want to ¼ of it into a sugar cane plantation, assaulted by illegal loggers seemingly enjoying protection and eating deep into the core of Mabira, as recent over flights amply demonstrated, the forest never the less still has much promise and holds the key for at least part of Uganda’s future, as a green lung and water tower for sprawling and polluting Kampala, spewing out Carbon dioxide which the 28,000 hectare forest then helps to absorb. Mabira’s integrity is a way of life for those who through the ages combed through it in search of medicinal plants, edible berries, fruits and roots, which if sustainably harvested can provide a continuous livelihood for the communities living at the edges of it and it holds yet more promise a s a resource for research, as many answers for questions raised by modern medicine for cures may be contained in it. But over and above those issues, which could fill a book of course or make for some added dissertations. Mabira is also an important source for nature and wild life based tourism, and that is the focus of this particular article, to show just what amazing bio diversity can be found 60 odd kilometers outside Kampala.
Surprisingly few people actually visit the forest, or stop at the Eco Tourism Centre established by the National forest authority (www.nfa.org.ug).The figures given vary between 2000 and 3000 visitors per annum, many of them school grouse for that matter, commendable co-circular activity to bring the need to preserve our forest closely to the next generation but talking foreign visitors or residents, the number seems abysmally low. It is understood that NFA was lacking the promotional and marketing efforts, unlike their wildlife counterpart UWA, where PR marketing and in particular the use of social media has made waves. Several trained guides are ready to take local and foreign visitors on to one of the four main hiking trails, or else on one of four cycling trails, the later requiring some experiences with mountain bikes of course.
As the map of Eco tourism shows, the four trails for hiking are red-tailed monkey trail, which can be done between 45 minutes and 15 hours, while the buttress tree trails, about 5 kms long, may take us as much as 3 hours to complete. The grey Cheeked Mangabey Trails is the longest of the four,6 kilometers long and can take as many as 4 hours to complete, at times longer as the guides try to track the famously elusive primates, seen in about one in three attempts according to peter Nsubuga ,one of the guides I found on site during my visit. The more recent discovery of the black mangabey is even rarer to find and would indeed take several hikes, even off the trails, accompanied by one of the guides with knowledge where these rare primates are actually located on given day.
A short ‘Picnic Loop’, almost not worthy to be called a hike, as it is rather a stroll, of less than a km can be completed in 20-30 minutes and at least gives an insight, a peak really, of what to expect when venturing deeper Into Mabira forest. The cycling trails, mountain bikers are welcome to bring their own bikes though basic models are available for hire at the at the centre at a modest cost of 25,000 Ush for the day, are notably more demanding in terms of time and come from ‘easy’, the blue trail of 5 km length taking about an hour or so even for novices, over the ‘medium’ rated yellow Trail of 12 km, taking depending on skills and fitness between 2 – 3 hours, to the longer and more demanding sections of the red trail, which has a shorter version of 30 km-seeing cyclists take between 4-5, and even more hours.
The ultimate challenge is the ride to the Griffin Falls, of late in the news over alleged contamination and pollution from a nearby sugar factory, which is called the White Trail and takes up to 8 hours to and from. Before I moved to the rainforest lodge I obtained a few of the impressive facts from the guides, including an eye opener when I compared the mammal inventory by nature Uganda with the ‘official’ guide books.
312 shrubs and tree species, 287 types of butterflies, 316 species of birds, many of them endemic, 23 species of reptiles, 97 species of moths and according to nature Uganda 51 mammals, where as the ‘regular’ guides only talk of thirty. If truly so, a marked improvement over the past and all the more reason to actually visit Mabira forest and hike it or cycle it.
And then it was a very careful crossing over the Kampala – Jinja highway, and be careful as you do because the number of food vendors at this spot at times make it hard to spot the cars, trucks and buses, which zapped at at high speed.
I moved for a few nights to the rainforest lodge, to enjoy the forest, the hospitality and facilities the lodge offers. Set just about 2.5 km off the main highway, this lodge is the only one within the NFA frame work of national forests. Access is via a good murram track, soon entering the forest proper. The mood immediately changes into anticipation as eyes scan the trees for monkeys, for bright flowers, orchids perhaps, the birds and butterflies, but not taking the eyes off the road for too long as there are some steep hills and sharp blind corners ahead. Bookings can be done with ease by email though payment still requires to be processed at the lodge office in Kampala, and all meals are included in the price. Ugandans and residents get special rate for a stay in any of the 20 wooden cabins. Meals are taken in the main restaurant but above it, almost as perched between the trees, is a bar and ‘lookout’ from an elevated vantage point, which permits for bird watching or simply looking into the evergreen foliage while sipping ones favorite cocktail, wine or spirit.
Depending on occupancies, there is either a buffet with a variety of dishes to choose from, starting with a soup all the way to the desert or salsa meals are served by the waiters, with a choice of dishes also available from the daily menu. Accommodation is spread out, the cottages well set apart from the next, and that allows for total privacy and the quiet, if not silent enjoyment of the forest. This is a ‘silent’ lodge, walkways to the cottages often steep but well lit to come for dinner and then return to the solitude of one’s own cabin securely.
The eerie calls, of the forest hyrax echo through the night from deep in the forest. Surely causing goose pimples to those who hear these screams for the first time, when the guests at the Mabira Rain forest lodge retire to their rooms after their dinner. The best magic in the forest is experienced at full moon of course while at new moon the darkness is almost overpowering before getting used to the various night sounds that emerge from the thickets, crickets, insects, moths flying circles around the balcony light unless it is switched off, or the whoosh of bat wings, the calls of the night owls or the rustling of leaves in the breeze, to permit a close up experience of sounds and scents of the forest, engulfing those seeking this special solitude.
A resident guide is available to take guests for walks around the lodge and beyond, explaining about birds; the red tailed monkeys, the shrubs and trees and has answers for just about any questions the visitors may throw at him. And for those not wishing to hike, there is a swimming pool and a sauna available for resident guests to use, and many in fact do to take advantage of steaming hot visit to the sauna as outside the evening chill creep up on the swimmers at the nearby pool. Mabira, so near and yet it feels so totally removed from the hustle and bustle of the city that it is always worthy a visit, for a weekend or a mid week break which will be remembered for long, at the Rain forest lodge inside Mabira forest or using the basic bandas at the Eco Tourism Centre. Just as long as you go and do visit.
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Elephant Tracking in Uganda
Increasing poaching Threat:
Conservationists all over Africa have been seeing an increase in elephant poaching over the past few years. Elephant poaching levels are the worst for a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest level since 1989, according to a report published by the united nations-backed convention on endangered species (CITES). AS RECENT REPORTS IN THE national news papers have highlighted, Uganda has not been spared from the increase in killing of elephants but so ar has suffered less than many other countries in africa. Some areas have lost more than half of their elephant populations in the last five years. Growing demand for ivory in china, coupled with strengthened trade links between china and Africa, is thought to be driving the spiraling ivory trade.
Because of the poaching risk to elephants we have to be careful about including maps and too many details of specific locations in an article such as this. Surprising and sad though it may seem, ivory traders might just read an article in the magazine and get new ideas of where to target elephants that could be poached more easily.
Kidepo, Murchison and queen Elizabeth national parks are the main strongholds for elephants in Uganda wild life authority and the wildlife conservation society with help from kampala aeroclub have fitted satellite collars to elephants in each of these areas.
Kidepo Valley National Park;
In kidepo, elephants were thought to range north across border into the kidepo game reserve and potentially deeper into southern sudan. To get a clear picture of these transboundary movements, six elephants were collared earl in 2008. Since then they have made some brief forays into south sudan and once into Kenya, generally staying within a few kilometers of the boeder and spending the majority of their time in Uganda.
With insecurity in south sudan over the last twenty years; hunting of elephants and other wildlife went unchecked, and only recently have conservation efforts started to re-establish an active ranger force to protect wildlife in the new country’s parks and reserves. Elephants are remarkably good at knowing where they are safe, and this may well be why they spend most of their time in the relative security of the national parks on the Ugandan side of the border.
The satellite tracking data has also shown that elephants use a large area of land south of kidepo, which is now a focus for community based wildlife management. Under such arrangements, local people set aside land and participate actively in the protection of wildlife, and benefit from revenue generated by tourism and sport hunting.
Murchison Falls National Park;
In MFNP a total of nine elephants have been collared (six in 2008 and three in 2010). To the north of Murchison is a historic elephant migration route, along the east side of the Albert Nile, to east Madi wildlife reserve and as far north as South Sudan. One objective was to establish whether elephants still move along this corridor. With the return of peace to northern Uganda, new opportunities have opened up to look for ways of managing this area to keep open these traditional migration routes. The satellite tracking data has shown that a few elephants still move north out of Murchison, but none of the animals we are tracking have made it all the way to East Madi yet. Tracking of elephants in northern Adjumani and across the border into Nimule national park, South Sudan, show that they do come south towards East Madi. So far the tracking data has not shown that they come close to meeting their distant cousins from Murchison, but it is still possible that occasionally they might make that connection. Even an occasional transfer of genes could be important in maintaining the genetic diversity of each population.
Human Conflict
At the same time, with return of peace, people are resettling and starting to farm again in the areas to the north of Murchison. As a result there have been more and more conflicts between people and elephants with elephants raiding crops and an occasion injuring or even killing people. The tracking data allows UWA to better understand the movement patterns of elephants in areas of conflict management efforts, including stationing rangers at key points, where they can ‘scare shoot’ in the air and digging trenches along the park boundary, which can help stop elephants from crossing into community land. A further thing the satellite tracking has shown us however is that elephants can make their way round the end of the existing trench, suggesting perharps it may need extending!
Oil Field Contract
Our tracking data also shows that elephants heavily use the areas of MFNP which are now the focus of oil exploration and exploitation. As oil related activities intensify, the oil componies will have to work very closely with conservation agencies to ensure that disturbance to the elephants and other wildlife is planned and kept to a minimum. A further programme to put more satellite collars on the elephants in this area is being considered as one option to monitor how oil exploration affects their movements. There has been speculation that oil exploration has been chasing elephants out of the park, resulting in more frequent conflicts with the local people. However, our tracking data so far does not provide any identification that that is the case – the elephants which regularly come into conflict with people are those that range around the chobe area on the north east side of the park.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
QENP forms part of an interconnected network of national parks and forest reserves, stretching across the border to the democratic republic of congo (see map). Known as the “great virunga landscape” this complex is one of the most important areas of conservation in Africa, with an incredibly high diversity of plants and animals and many endangered species. As can be seen from the map, many of the protected areas in these network are only connected by narrow corridors of natural habitant. Large bodied and wide ranging animals like elephants rely on these corridors to access different forests, savannahs, lakes and mountains – without them, small populations would be isolated in each protected area, and far less likely to survive. Satellite tracking data of 8 elephants in this landscape showed how they still use many of these corridors. Of particular importance are the routes to the north and south of lake Edward, connecting queen Elizabeth national park to the Parc National des Virungas across the border in DRC and the leading north from Queen Elizabeth to Kibale National Park.
Acknowledgement
The efforts and support of a large number of individuals and organizations have made this elephant satellite tracking project possible and a success. This includes the united states Agency For International Development, MacArthur Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala Aeroclub and Flight training centre, Dr Patrick Atimned, Jan Broekhuis, Dr mike cock, Geoffrey Mwedde, Dr. Polycarp Mwima, Simon Nampindo, Dr. Andre Plumpture, and many UWA wardens and rangers in QE, Murchison and Kidepo that made up the field teams.
Read MoreUganda Does a U-turn to Travel Visa Fees
Uganda, a country that had increased its tourist visa fees from USD50 to USD100 abruptly seems to be doing a U-turn in its decision to hike the entry fees. Rreliable sources from Uganda intimated to us that after South Sudan putting up a strong protest to the Ugandan government about what has been described as “unaffordable fees for our people”, the authorities are reviewing the new visa fees that seem to be high. The government is now considering an instant review about the visa fees so that a better price for all kinds of travellers can be got.
In July 2015 the government of Uganda increased the cost of visa fees by 100% surprising tourists on arrival as well as tour operators in the country. The abrupt and uninformed increment caused consternation and disbelief among visitor who were taking prebooked safaris in Uganda as well as tourism operators. Sources from the Uganda Tour Operators indicate that the agencies are still trying to come to terms with the government to revise the fees that had made Uganda more expensive to tourists if compared with Rwanda that charges only USD30 for a single entry visa. In addition to that the rise in fees at the beginning of July, caught many tourists unaware at the airport as neither Uganda’s embassies abroad as well as the local tour operators who had booked safaris for their clients.
Tour operators are also against the decision by the Ugandan government to make special provisions for citizens of South Sudan, to pay only a US$50 visa fee, reversing the decision of last month which raised visa fees broadly to US$100 per person, per entry. “If they can reduce the visa fee for South Sudanese, they can surely reduce them for everyone else. We are already struggling with high taxes here which made safaris upcountry a lot more expensive compared to last year. Now the visa fees are doubled. Does our government think the markets can absorb such sudden changes? We are working against the odds to bring more tourists here and for the last year things were very tough. Make no mistake, higher cost for travel to Uganda will be counterproductive.”
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