Murchison Falls Conservation Success Highlighted in National Geographic

National Geographic recently published an article underscoring Uganda’s immense conservation progress in recent decades. “Historically, the country has been praised for its environmental efforts, and behind the scenes of its 10 national parks and multiple reserves are individuals working hard keep them safe,” writes Sarah Marshall for National Geographic.

The article highlights Murchison Falls National Park’s Law Enforcement and Operations Center, the first of its kind in Africa, whose construction Global Conservation supported in 2019-2020.

Construction of the Law Enforcement and Operations Center.

“On a tour of its newly completed Law Enforcement and Operations Centre, founding trustee Mike Keigwin proudly shows off a complex where every cog of a well-oiled anti-poaching mechanism — from satellite-linked surveillance screens to temporary prison cells and a police station — whirs away under one roof. One hundred young people from the fringes of Murchison Falls were contracted for the construction, with many now training as rangers for UWA.”

Construction of the Law Enforcement and Operations Center, which involved burying thousands of confiscated snares in its foundation.

Fringed by the riverine forest and rust-red cliffs of Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) lies the Victoria Nile. The national park is best known for one of this river’s features, the most powerful waterfall in the world: Murchison Falls. Every second, the equivalent of 200 bathtubs full of water floods through a gorge less than six meters wide with pressure so great that the ground quivers around it. The water then plummets nearly 50 meters before making its way toward Lake Albert, a placid river thronged with buffaloes, hippos, waterbuck and crocodiles.

The completed LEOC.

Established in 1952, MFNP became the largest and most-visited national park in Uganda. Safari-goers from all over the globe traveled across the savannas and woodlands that straddle the river. Wildlife could be watched by motor on the ground or by hot-air balloons carrying tourists floating above the park.

During the 1960s, the park was not only the most-visited park in Uganda, but was also among the most popular in all of Africa. It contained some of the largest concentrations of wildlife in the country: an estimated 16,000 elephants peppered the landscape while nearly 15,000 hippos guarded the river and 26,500 buffaloes stormed across its savannas. It was also home to large populations of chimpanzees and the “Big 5” which is composed of leopards, lions, elephants, buffaloes, and rhinos. 

A lion captured and sedated for collaring.

But in the 1970’s and early 80’s, as Uganda sank into civil war, wildlife populations declined. “From the late 1970s until 2000, elephant numbers in Murchison Falls — once the most visited park in Africa — crashed from 16,000 to 500,” writes Marshall. While devastating, she shed hope on the matter, remarking that “in recent times the situation has stabilised, and tourism is returning.” 

Now, the park once again contains over 70 mammal and 450 bird species and an ambitious recovery plan is underway. Large herbivore numbers have doubled in recent years. Three-quarters of all of the world’s Rothschild giraffes live here, and four of the Big 5 survive. Over 600 chimpanzees live in the largest mahogany forest in East Africa, the Budongo Forest.

Unfortunately, MFNP still faces threats to its land and the wildlife that depend on it. 

Like in many parts of Africa, commercial poaching by international syndicates is a major problem here. Poachers buy illegal firearms from nearby conflict zones, using them to hunt large animals to sell for their meat and ivory resulting in rhinos being wiped out throughout Uganda, and over 3,000 elephants have been killed in this region just in the past ten years.

Confiscated elephant tusk.

Over 40% of Uganda's oil reserves lie under MFNP, and a consortium of oil companies are now engaged in drilling. Additionally, the park faces plans to begin building a pipeline to Tanzania this year, which will have severe implications for wildlife and the environment. 

“The cost of protecting Africa’s wild areas is enormous, but the potential losses are too overwhelming to contemplate. Although the trade in animal parts has largely been brought under control, the biggest threat now lies in the conflict between communities and wildlife, as populations grow and habitats shrink,” Marshall added.

With our Partners in Conservation, we are working to restore Murchison Falls National Park to its former biodiverse glory. Our hope in the coming decades is that a tourist in a hot air balloon can once again look down upon a savanna freckled with elephants and rivers swarming with hippos. 

Until 2019, when Global Conservation became involved at the invitation of Uganda Conservation Foundation and Uganda Wildlife Authority, a small team of poorly-paid and ill-equipped rangers was tasked with patrolling the entirety of this vast wilderness. Uganda Wildlife Authority recently deployed 70 new rangers, but before that, just 50 rangers patrolled the entire park.

Global Conservation is also investing in a multi-year Global Park Defense program to bring park-wide communications, the Vulcan domain awareness system, cellular trailcam networks, long-range thermal cameras, and real-time command and control. Already, we’ve rolled out a satellite comms network, enabling rangers to connect to HQ and coordinate with other ranger patrols. These smartphones also support the SMART Patrolling system for collecting data on poaching and biodiversity. 

We are now supporting the establishment of a Community Tourism Association with certified guides to become ambassadors for the park. The tourism industry in Uganda employs about 1.2 million people, and the tourism industry raises about $1.5 billion a year, or 9% of the country's Gross Domestic Product. Over 50,000 tourists visit MFNP each year, generating over $2 million in revenues. The Uganda Wildlife Authority contributes 20% of these revenues to local community projects, including clinics and schools.

The Global Conservation team purchased sixteen Thuraya Satsleeves with Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphones to equip ranger patrols with real-time communications to aid in emergencies, ambushes, raids and medical evacuations. These Satellite-backed smartphones also can support the SMART Patrolling system for data collection on anti-poaching patrols and biodiversity monitoring. Previously, a lack of communications for active patrol coordination undermined law enforcement and rangers' ability to protect wildlife and park visitors.

The Ugandan economy and the communities that live around the park depend on our help. If you want to join us in protecting this stunning landscape, please donate here.