Overview
In summary
The project addresses critical capacity gaps within the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and other security and law enforcement agencies to combat illegal wildlife trade. Since inception in mid-2019, WCS has provided technical support, equipment, infrastructure and training to UWA to combat local and international wildlife crime, and enhances cross-sectoral coordination through the NWCCTF, which is led by UWA. Funded by the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund of the Government of the United Kingdom.
The challenges we are addressing
- Lack of capacity and limited inter-agency coordination between UWA and other law enforcement agencies.
- Uganda as a major trafficking route for ivory and other wildlife products originating mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa and Southern Africa.
- Bribery and corruption rendering enforcement ineffective, as well-connected criminal networks bribe their way out of prosecution.
- High levels of poaching driven largely by poverty and unemployment among park-adjacent communities.
- Human-wildlife conflict exacerbated by settlement growth on park-adjacent land, which is also a driver of wildlife crime.
- Rising local and international demand for wildlife products.
- Proliferation of weapons across borders used for poaching and IWT-related crimes.
Our approach
Our approach is hinged on the three core WCS conservation strategies — Discover, Protect and Inspire.
- It leverages WCS's long history with UWA in information collection and research for better conservation decision-making.
- It benefits from the WCS China programme's knowledge of IWT network dynamics locally and internationally, with Asia being a key destination for contraband wildlife products.
- It improves livelihoods and reduces human-wildlife conflict by promoting the participation of women, men, youth and the elderly among park-adjacent communities and community wildlife scouts.
Key milestones
- Supported completion of the NWCCTF institutional arrangements and its inauguration on 11 February 2020.
- Supported the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities (MTWA) to develop the National Strategy to Combat Poaching, Illegal Trade and Trafficking of Wildlife and Wildlife Products — approved by the Board of Directors and due for printing.
- Trained the NWCCTF in counter-IWT and anti-trafficking law enforcement operations, including the CITES implementation framework.
- Trained UWA staff in the use of the offenders' database and updated it in protected areas with the most recent records of wildlife seizures, arrests, prosecutions and sentences.
- Trained community wildlife scouts in human-wildlife conflict mitigation at two hotspots around Karuma Wildlife Reserve in Murchison Falls Conservation Area.
- Conducted a beekeeping feasibility study in Diima and Nyamahasa parishes, Kiryandongo district, then trained community beekeeping groups (men and women of different age groups) in modern beekeeping and provided 300 Kenya Top Bar (KTB) hives and other equipment.
