Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

After 10 years of fighting wildlife poaching, the Uganda Wildlife Authority is now focusing on reinforcing law enforcement, anti-poaching and community involvement in Murchison Falls National Park to bring back the Jewel of Africa.

Now we need to protect it forever.

Global Conservation is investing in a multi-year Global Park Defense program to bring park-wide Internet and Satellite Communications, construction of a Joint Command Center, Cellular Trailcamera Networks, and Long-range Thermal Cameras for real-time surveillance to Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.

Our Partners in Conservation are the Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) and the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA). The Project Director is Michael Keigwin MBE, a 20 year veteran in Uganda conservation, especially in wildlife protection who led the turnaround of Murchison Falls National Park.

Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda's largest national park. It measures approximately 3,893 square kilometres (1,503 sq mi). The park is bisected by the Victoria Nile from east to west for a distance of about 115 kilometres (71 mi). The park is the location of the Murchison Falls, where the waters of the Nile flow through a narrow gorge only 7 metres (23 ft) wide before plunging 43 metres (141 ft).

Murchison Falls National Park is the largest and was the most visited of Uganda’s parks known for abundant wildlife including African buffalo, Ugandan kob, hippopotamus, Nile crocodile, African bush elephant, African leopard, lion, and chimpanzee. It is home to 95 mammal species and over 610 bird species.  

Illegal wildlife poaching and hunting for bush meat has decimated the park wildlife populations over the past 10 years. Poor leadership of the park during this period saw active rangers decrease from 120 to under 60 rangers which became ineffective in covering nearly 4000 square kilometers with few vehicles, no radios, patrolling support, few ranger stations, and little in the way of technology and systems for park and wildlife protection.

Photo: National Geographic

Global Conservation, the International Elephant Foundation and Save the Elephants are sponsoring a comprehensive Elephant and Wildlife Census in the park this year, but estimates believe there are less than 3000 elephants, 150 lions, 80 chimpanzees and hippo have been heavily impacted along with key prey species

Poachers typically kill wildlife using AK47’s or by setting large Wire Snares made from bicycle, motorcycle and other cables.  Snares are set primarily for antelopes and warthogs but are indiscriminate and often catch and kill lions too.

Global Conservation is committed to support Murchison Falls National Park in five (5) critical areas of park and wildlife protection through co-funding to Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA):

1. Global Park Defense systems including Cellular Trailcam Networks, Vulcan DAS, Satellite Communications, SMART Patrols, Long-range Thermal Cameras, Command Center equipment and systems.

Photo: Wildlife Protection Solutions

2. Land and Naval Patrols - funding of fuel and maintenance for land, lake and river-based anti-poaching missions against illegal wildlife poaching and illegal fishing.

3. Community Involvement – supporting the establishment of a Community Tourism Association with certified guides to become ambassadors for the park, as well as reward-based informant networks to alert rangers of illegal activities.

4. Park Expansion - support planning and government work needed to add Wildlife Corridors connecting nearby Forest and Wildlife Reserves where possible.

5. Funding of the first Aerial Census for an accurate elephant and wildlife population baseline for monitoring and planning.

Photo: Great Elephant Census.

Enabling the Park's First Elephant Census

Global Conservation is funding the first aerial imaging technology-based survey of Murchison Falls National Park elephant and mammal populations.  Using an automatic process of image recognition and expert oversight, thousands of images taken from high resolution cameras on the bottom of survey plane are processed to give highly accurate population counts not only of elephants, but all other mammals in the park. 

Save the Elephants is working with world-renown pilot Richard Lamprey who undertook much of the Great Elephant Census flights for Vulcan across Africa, but those used an older manual data collection method with human spotters counting elephants one by one while looking out the window. With the latest airborne imaging systems, baseline wildlife population surveys and detailed land use and deforestation maps can be generated for park and wildlife management, community development and wildlife corridor planning.

Global Conservation support for Murchison Falls National Park began in 2018 with funding for systems and equipment for anti-poaching patrols including satellite communications systems, ranger station solar installations and designing a new command center. Global Conservation purchased sixteen (16) Thuraya Satsleeves with Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphones to equip Mobile Ranger Patrols with real-time communications, for the first time, to aid in emergencies, ambushes, raids and medical evacuations.

Murchison Falls National Park today has little or no radio communications systems in most of the park, with some limited access to mobile phone networks. Lack of ‘airtime’ and power availability for ranger to recharge often requires rangers to communicate through their personal phones.  With ranger salaries averaging $250 per month, few rangers can be expected to cover airtime costs, and power is often not available at ranger stations.

Lack of communications for active patrol coordination severely undermine law enforcement and park operations ability to fulfil their mandate of park and wildlife protection, as well as visitor security.

Global Conservation and other partners are all joining forces to support the successful implementation of the comprehensive Law Enforcement Strategy that was developed last year by the Conservation Development Centre with the support of CITES MIKES and QENP law enforcement officials in 2017.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority has committing to deploying 45 new Rangers, who started basic training on the 10th May 2018 and will join Murchison Falls National Park in September 2018. We experienced ranger training of 500 new UWA rangers selected from over 10,000 applicants. The level of enthusiasm and dedication was incredible.  

Under the astute leadership of Project Director Michael Keigwin MBE, Trustee of UCF with 20 years experience in Ugandan parks and wildlife, and a new UWA Executive Director – Sam Mwandha, Murchison Falls National Park will have a major investment in time and manpower to turnaround the park.

Global Conservation is assisting Uganda Conservation Foundation to deploy Global Park Defense and increase Community Involvement in Anti-Poaching and Guiding operations to support an over-stretched Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

UWA calculated that in three years they have seized over 7 tons of snares from poachers in Murchison Falls National Park alone.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority funds 20% of park visitor revenues into local community projects including clinics, schools, sporting and infrastructure.

The tourism industry in Uganda employs about 1,173,000 people countrywide, and said the tourism industry contributes 9% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), about $1.5 billion a year. In terms of foreign exchange FOREX for Uganda, international tourism is likely responsible for 30-40% of foreign currency entering the country.

Primary Threats to Murchison Falls National Park

The highest priority threats in Murchison Falls National Park are commercial poaching by local poachers which is having major impact on elephants and herbivores populations. The easy access to firearms crossing the international border was regarded as an important factor in fueling this threat. Significantly, commercial poaching by local poachers is regarded as a greater threat today in Murchison Falls National Park than commercial poaching by organized crime gangs like those decimating rhino and elephant populations in Tanzania and South Africa.

The second most significant threat identified in the Threat Matrix of the QENP Law Enforcement Strategy is Subsistence Poaching without Firearms, which has a very high impact on QEPA’s Herbivores including hippos and smaller ungulates, usually called “bushmeat”.  Very large numbers of snares being set in remote and inaccessible parts of the park are being carried out and locals have easy access to snare-making materials.

The next two priority threats are habitat damage through human activity – cattle grazing and herding, agriculture, as well as illegal logging is driven by the high human densities both around and inside Murchison Falls National Park – over 300,000 people live inside the park.

Illegal fishing is also an issue in the lakes and gradual depletion of Murchison Falls National Park’s fisheries because of over-fishing will in the long run result in worsening livelihoods for fishermen, who will then be forced to turn to other livelihoods such as poaching, tree cutting or illegal grazing.

Last year, a record 40 tons of ivory were confiscated worldwide, and with more large seizures of more than half a ton made in Africa. Out of these, 80% of the African seizures were made in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Global Park Defense Components

Key components of Global Park Defense include:

SMART Ranger Patrols                              

Surveillance Systems

      Cellular Trailcams

      Thermal Long-Range Cameras  

      UAV Drones

      Aerial Overflights

Park-wide Satellite Communications

Marine Anti-Poaching Patrols -  Fuel and Boat Maintenance                         

Ranger Anti-Poaching Patrols - Vehicle Maintenance, Fuel and Rations, Camps and Equipment

Legal and Prosecution Support

Training - Military-level Patrolling / Technology and Systems       

2018 Mission: Focus on Park and Wildlife Protection

Global Conservation is working with Vulcan, Paul Allen’s philanthropic arm, to plan deployment of the Vulcan Domain Awareness System (DAS) at Murchison Falls National Park, as well as bringing in technical expertise from Wildlife Protection Solutions for Cellular Trailcam Networks used for anti-poaching.

At the invitation of Uganda Conservation Foundation and Uganda Wildlife Authority, Global Conservation is investing in deployment of Global Park Defense Systems in close collaboration with these technology and implementation partners.

On the most recent mission, Global Conservation provided a Thuraya Satellite Network to enable sixteen (16) ranger teams to be in constant communication (text, voice, email) using Galaxy S8 smartphones anywhere in the park. These Satellite-backed smartphones also can support the SMART Patrolling system for data collection on anti-poaching patrols and biodiversity monitoring.

Global Conservation has rolled out a Satellite Comms Network using smartphones and Thuraya SatSleeves allowing SMART Patrols combined with real-time location updates, enabling Rangers for the first time to connect to HQ and coordinate with other Ranger Patrols.

Major Challenges in Murchison Falls National Park

Over 300,000 people live within 200 kilometers of Murchison Falls National Park and there are a number of fishing villages and two major towns.

As overfishing dries up the last remaining fish in the lakes, greater pressure for wildlife poaching will occur.

There has been massive poaching of over 3,000 elephants for ivory over the past 10 years, with hundreds of dead elephant carcasses found. As well, thousands of hippos and other wildlife are killed for game meat sold across Uganda and Congo.

Hundreds of illegal wildlife poachers are entering the park each month from all four corners, including from Lake Edward by boats.

Salaries for park rangers are under $250 per month leading to corruption with poacher syndicates who pay better, as well as many rangers now working in tourism for tips rather than going on patrols.

There have been few government vehicles for use by Park Rangers, and rarely is fuel and patrol rations available in a timely manner.

Poacher informants in the rangers and surrounding communities alert poaching syndicates on timing, drop-off locations and routes of ranger patrols

Anti-poaching ranger patrols must cover nearly 4,000 square kilometers on a regular basis to prevent wildlife poaching with major pressures coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo across the border.

Poor communications infrastructure is today based on VHF analog radios with no security (ie. open to the public) which have low range and are unreliable. In most cases in emergencies, rangers must use their personal phones to report wildlife crime.

The Northern White Rhino has been extinct since 2010 due to poaching of rhino horn, and many other species are facing extreme pressures.

Cellular service in the park covers less than 10% of area and most remote stations have no communications for emergency medical support or reinforcements when they encounter well-armed poaching groups.

Six Sector Wardens with only 50 rangers are spread across 4,000 square kilometers. Most ranger stations are rudimentary facilities without reliable radio communication and insufficient ranger counts to undertake necessary patrolling.

Positive Developments – Park and Wildlife Protection

Uganda Wildlife Authority has committed 45 new Rangers to Murchison Falls National Park.

Uganda Conservation Foundation has rehired Michael Keigwin back from the USA who worked in Murchison Falls National Park for many years and helped the successful turnaround of Murchison Falls’ Park and Wildlife Protection.

The Protected Area Law Enforcement Plan was developed in March 2017 for Murchison Falls National Park providing a solid strategy for directing park and wildlife protection efforts.

Over 50,000 tourists are visiting for wildlife viewing each year, down from a high of 70,000 ten years ago when wildlife was flourishing in the park.

The amended Uganda Wild Life Act will likely pass soon giving maximum jail terms of up to 20 years and fines ranging up to UGX 200 million (USD $60,000) for poachers.

Uganda Conservation Foundation are now supporting National Park Ranger Anti-Poaching teams with new Ranger Stations, vehicles, fuel and rations, as well as support for Wildlife Crime Prosecutor.

Uganda has one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, predicted at 7.5 percent annually through 2026. There are approximately 50,000 visitors to Murchison Falls National Park each year (2017), generating over $2 million in revenues.

Tourism is 8% of the Ugandan economy making UWA the country’s largest ‘company’ generating a business of $50 million in park revenues, $200 million in foreign exchange earnings and over $1.8 billion downstream revenues for a fragile developing economy.

The new UWA Head of Conservation is excellent with deep field experience as a former Head Warden of Murchison Falls National Park.

Photo: Uganda Conservation Foundation

Partners in Conservation

Uganda Conservation Foundation

The Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) is focusing on Ugandan wildlife conservation after years of extreme civil conflict and poaching. Their aim is to conserve and preserve the natural environment and the fauna and flora in Uganda.

UCF is working to support the Uganda Wildlife Authority and local communities in Murchison Falls National Park starting in 2018, and in the regeneration of Murchison Falls National Park over the past ten years, a model for recovery of Murchison Falls Naitonal Park.

To encourage, stimulate and support efforts in the betterment, recovery and future security of Uganda's wildlife, natural resources and environment.

To unite the needs of the Uganda people with that of conservation and development objectives for the benefit of both.

To collaborate, co-operate and support other agencies and organizations with mutual objectives, although focus on areas receiving little or no NGO emphasis.

To help provide practical support to conserve and revitalize areas of natural habitat and improve 'urban' areas for benefit of wildlife and communities.

To be involved in long term, proactive, realistic and practical projects, especially those that provide the opportunity of advancing Uganda's capability and prospects through employment, education, activities and research.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA)

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is the governing bodies that regulates park and wildlife conservation in Uganda. UWA manages ten national parks, twelve wildlife reserves, and fourteen wildlife sanctuaries. UWA also provides guidance for five community wildlife areas. It is governed by a board of trustees appointed by the minister responsible for wildlife.

The UWA was established in August 1996 by the Uganda Wildlife Statute, which merged the Uganda National Parks Department with the Uganda Game and Fisheries Department and now is a core department of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.