When intelligence matures into action, the Task Force deploys jointly: UWA rangers and wildlife prosecutors, police investigators, URA customs officers, UPDF security support, immigration control and ODPP guidance — assembled case by case, under a single operational plan.
The record speaks for itself. Since 2017, joint operations have recovered over a tonne of ivory in a single raid at Najjanakumbi, taken twelve firearms out of the poaching economy in Oyam and Nwoya, rescued 122 African grey parrots and 31 colobus monkeys alive, and intercepted rhino horn, worked ivory and repeated consignments of pangolin scales.
Enforcement does not end at the seizure. Prosecutions guided by the ODPP have produced landmark outcomes: eight-year sentences for the Queen Elizabeth lion poisoners, a seven-year sentence for a parrot trafficker, and fines from UGX 21 million to UGX 120 million — applied equally to Ugandan and foreign offenders.
Joint operations also defend Uganda's forest estate: patrols and evictions in Bugoma Central Forest Reserve, recovery of illegal timber, and destruction of charcoal kilns operating inside protected forests.
Browse the full record in Success Stories.
Through 2025 the Task Force spearheaded joint enforcement and advocacy for Bugoma Central Forest Reserve, culminating in multi-stakeholder resolutions to halt encroachment and illegal conversion.
In November 2024, Chinese nationals were convicted in Kampala for trafficking pangolins and fined UGX 55 million and UGX 26 million respectively.
A June 2024 operation in Kasese rescued 31 colobus monkeys and seven Gaboon vipers from traffickers, who were each fined UGX 21 million on conviction.
In August 2023, a serving traffic police officer was arrested in possession of 34 kilograms of elephant ivory. The case is before court.
