The Murchison-Semliki Landscape extends from Murchison Falls National Park at the northern end of Lake Albert to the Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve at the southern end of the lake and encompasses all of the connected tropical forest on the escarpment above the lake. About 70% of the natural habitat in this landscape is protected. Key forest areas within the landscape include the Budongo and Bugoma Central Forest Reserves (CFR) together with smaller reserves such as Kagombe, Kitechura, Matiri, Itwara and Wambabya CFRs. Savanna protected areas include Murchison Falls National Park, Kabwoya and Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserves and Kaiso-Tonya Community Conservation Area. Species of conservation concern in this landscape include elephants, chimpanzees, Nile crocodiles, hippopotamuses, Nahan’s francolin, forest raptors such as the crowned eagle, as well as large (lion, hyaena, leopard) and medium-sized (golden cat, side-striped jackals) carnivores. The total number of mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and plant species recorded from this landscape to date number 2,583, of which 37 species are endemic to the Albertine Rift and 49 species are threatened (CR, EN, VU) under the IUCN Redlist (2010).
This landscape has been under great pressure recently as it has been a settlement area for people from other parts of Uganda as well as refugees from the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has been seen as an area where land is still available for settlement. Coupled with an increasing interest in the development of cash crops in Uganda with farmers increasing the area they farm to be able to include crops such as tobacco, sugar, tea, and cocoa, this has resulted in the conversion of large areas of forest and bushland to agricultural land over the past 10-15 years. The increasing fragmentation of forest in the landscape is reducing connectivity between forest reserves and will affect those species that do not have viable populations in any single forest reserve. The finding of significant reserves of oil in the rift valley around Lake Albert has also increased threats in the region by encouraging immigration by people with hopes of employment or speculation over land that may need to be purchased by oil companies in future.
WCS has been active in the region, particularly over the past four years, identifying critical corridors that are required to maintain connectivity within the landscapes for certain ‘landscape species’ (those that require the connectivity to maintain viable populations) and working with other partners to develop a conservation action plan for the landscape, focusing on using carbon financing to provide incentives to local farmers to maintain natural forest on their land. We have compiled biodiversity data throughout the forests in the landscape, focusing on large mammals, birds and plants, but have worked with scientists from Makerere University to undertake surveys of small mammals, amphibians and reptiles in some of the sites. We have also developed a carbon map for the forest of the landscape and have measured forest loss between 1995-2006 and 2006-2010 across the landscape. These studies show that over 8,000 hectares of forest have been cleared annually over the past 15 years because of the increasing demand for agricultural land and the increasing use of cash crops such as tobacco, sugar, tea and cocoa in the region. A Reduced Emissions from forest Destruction and Degradation (REDD) feasibility analysis has been made for the landscape by WCS (with UNDP/GEF funding through WWF) and we are finalizing a Project Development Document which will enable us to market the carbon from these forests. WCS has also been leading surveys of chimpanzees, one of the endangered species in this region that require connectivity between the forests if they are to remain viable in the long term. Dr Andy Plumptre, WCS’s Albertine Rift Director, developed a novel census method for chimpanzees in Budongo CFR in the early 1990s and this method, the ‘marked nest count’ has been used to survey chimpanzees in all of the forests of this landscape since 1999. Repeat surveys in 2009/2010 show that chimpanzee numbers have remained stable in Budongo and Bugoma CFRs but have declined in Kagombe CFR. There are likely to have been major declines outside the forest reserves with the large areas of forest loss in the region (over 450 km2 in the past 15 years which is likely to have contained about 450-500 chimpanzees using an average density for the forests in the region).
Didier, K. A., Glennon, M.J., Novaro, A., Sanderson, E.W., Strindberg, S., Walker, S. and Di Martino, S. (2009). The Landscape Species Approach: spatially-explicit conservation planning applied in the Adirondacks, USA, and San Guillermo-Laguna Brava, Argentina, Landscapes. Oryx, 43, 476-487.
Frederick, H., Moyer, D. Kujirakwinja, D, Shamavu, P. et Plumptre, A.J. (2011). Manuel des Procédures Aériennes v 0.9. Wildlife Conservation Society
Johnson, L. 2007. Assessing the Impacts of Energy Developments and Developing Appropriate Mitigation in the Uganda portion of the Albertine Rift. Report to WCS and UWA.
Junker, J.; Blake, S.; Boesch, C.; Campbell, G.;Toit, L. d.; Duvall, C.; Ekobo, A.; Etoga, G.; Galat-Luong, A.; Gamys, J.;Ganas-Swaray, J.; Gatti, S.; Ghiurghi, A.; Granier, N.; Hart, J.; Head, J.;Herbinger, I.; Hicks, T. C.; Huijbregts, B.; Imong, I. S.; Kuempel, N.; Lahm,S.; Lindsell, J.; Maisels, F.; McLennan, M.; Martinez, L.; Morgan, B.; Morgan,D.; Mulindahabi, F.; Mundry, R.; N'Goran, K. P.; Normand, E.; Ntongho, A.;Okon, D. T.; Petre, C.-A.; Plumptre, A.; Rainey, H.; Regnaut, S.; Sanz, C.;Stokes, E.; Tondossama, A.; Tranquilli, S.; Sunderland-Groves, J.; Walsh, P.;Warren, Y.; Williamson, E. A.; Kuehl, H. S., (2012) Recent decline in suitableenvironmental conditions for African great apes. Diversity and Distributions, 18, 1077-1091.
Lasch, C., Pintea, L., Traylor-Holzer, K., and Kamenya, S. 2010. Tanzania Chimpanzee Conservation Action Planning Report. Report to TANAPA by JGI.
Laurance, W. F., CarolinaUseche, D., Rendeiro, J., Kalka, M., Bradshaw, C. J. A., Sloan, S. P.,Laurance, S. G., Campbell, M., Abernethy, K., Alvarez, P., Arroyo-Rodriguez, V.,Ashton, P., Benitez-Malvido, J., Blom, A., Bobo, K. S., Cannon, C. H., Cao, M.,Carroll, R., Chapman, C., Coates, R., Cords, M., Danielsen, F., De Dijn, B.,Dinerstein, E., Donnelly, M. A., Edwards, D., Edwards, F., Farwig, N., Fashing,P., Forget, P.-M., Foster, M., Gale, G., Harris, D., Harrison, R., Hart, J.,Karpanty, S., John Kress, W., Krishnaswamy, J., Logsdon, W., Lovett, J.,Magnusson, W., Maisels, F., Marshall, A. R., McClearn, D., Mudappa, D.,Nielsen, M. R., Pearson, R., Pitman, N., van der Ploeg, J., Plumptre, A.,Poulsen, J., Quesada, M., Rainey, H., Robinson, D., Roetgers, C., Rovero, F.,Scatena, F., Schulze, C., Sheil, D., Struhsaker, T., Terborgh, J., Thomas, D.,Timm, R., Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, J., Vasudevan, K., Joseph Wright, S., CarlosArias-G, J., Arroyo, L., Ashton, M., Auzel, P., Babaasa, D., Babweteera, F.,Baker, P., Banki, O., Bass, M., Bila-Isia, I., Blake, S., Brockelman, W.,Brokaw, N., Bruhl, C. A., Bunyavejchewin, S., Chao, J.-T., Chave, J., Chellam,R., Clark, C. J., Clavijo, J., Congdon, R., Corlett, R., Dattaraja, H. S.,Dave, C., Davies, G., de Mello Beisiegel, B., Nazare Paes da Silva, R. d., DiFiore, A., Diesmos, A., Dirzo, R., Doran-Sheehy, D., Eaton, M., Emmons, L.,Estrada, A., Ewango, C., Fedigan, L., Feer, F., Fruth, B., Giacalone Willis, J.,Goodale, U., Goodman, S., Guix, J. C., Guthiga, P., Haber, W., Hamer, K.,Herbinger, I., Hill, J., Huang, Z., Fang Sun, I., Ickes, K., Itoh, A.,Ivanauskas, N., Jackes, B., Janovec, J., Janzen, D., Jiangming, M., Jin, C.,Jones, T., Justiniano, H., Kalko, E., Kasangaki, A., Killeen, T., King, H.-b.,Klop, E., Knott, C., Kone, I., Kudavidanage, E., Lahoz da Silva Ribeiro, J.,Lattke, J., Laval, R., Lawton, R., Leal, M., Leighton, M., Lentino, M., Leonel,C., Lindsell, J., Ling-Ling, L., Eduard Linsenmair, K., Losos, E., Lugo, A.,Lwanga, J., Mack, A. L., Martins, M., Scott McGraw, W., McNab, R., Montag, L.,Myers Thompson, J., Nabe-Nielsen, J., Nakagawa, M., Nepal, S., Norconk, M.,Novotny, V., O'Donnell, S., Opiang, M., Ouboter, P., Parker, K., Parthasarathy,N., Pisciotta, K., Prawiradilaga, D., Pringle, C., Rajathurai, S., Reichard, U.,Reinartz, G., Renton, K., Reynolds, G., Reynolds, V., Riley, E., Rodel, M.-O.,Rothman, J., Round, P., Sakai, S., Sanaiotti, T., Savini, T., Schaab, G.,Seidensticker, J., Siaka, A., Silman, M. R., Smith, T. B., Almeida, S. S. d.,Sodhi, N., Stanford, C., Stewart, K., Stokes, E., Stoner, K. E., Sukumar, R.,Surbeck, M., Tobler, M., Tscharntke, T., Turkalo, A., Umapathy, G., van Weerd,M., Vega Rivera, J., Venkataraman, M., Venn, L., Verea, C., Volkmer deCastilho, C., Waltert, M., Wang, B., Watts, D., Weber, W., West, P., Whitacre,D., Whitney, K., Wilkie, D., Williams, S., Wright, D. D., Wright, P., Xiankai,L., Yonzon, P., Zamzani, F. (2012). Averting biodiversity collapse in tropicalforest protected areas. Nature, 489,290-294
Plumptre, A.J. 2006. The Diets, Preferences and Overlap of the Primate Community in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda. Pp. 345-371 In: Primates of Western Uganda. Eds. N.E. Newton-Fisher, H. Notman, J.D.Paterson and V.Reynolds. Springer, New York.
Plumptre, A.J. (2012). The Ecological Impact of Long-term Changes in Africa’s Rift Valley. Nova Science Publishers, New York. 308pp.
Plumptre, A.J., Rose, R., Nangendo, G., Williamson, E.A., Didier, K., Hart, J., Mulindahabi, F., Hicks, C., Griffin, B., Ogawa, H., Nixon, S., Pintea, L., Vosper, A., McClennan, M., Amsini, F., McNeilage, A., Makana, J.R., Kanamori, M., Hernandez, A., Piel, A., Stewart, F., Moore, J., Zamma, K., Nakamura, M., Kamenya, S., Idani, G., Sakamaki, T., Yoshikawa, M., Greer, D., Tranquilli, S., Beyers, R., Furuichi, T., Hashimoto, C., and Bennett, E. 2010. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for the Eastern Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). IUCN, Gland.
Prinsloo, S., Mulondo, P., Mugiru, G. and Plumptre, A.J. (2012). Measuring responses of wildlife to oil exploration operations in Murchison Falls National Park. Report of USAID WILD Program.
RDB and INECN 2009. Ten year transboundary strategic plan 2009-2018: Nyungwe-Kibira Landscape.
Sanderson, E.W., Redford, K.H., Vedder, A., Coppolillo, P.B. & Ward, S.E. (2002) A conceptual model for conservation planning based on landscape species requirements. Landscape and Urban Planning, 58, 41–56.
Segan, D.B., Watson,J.E.M., Nangendo, G., Ayebare, S. and Plumptre, A.J. (2012). Avoiding conflict and balancing trade-offs:Biodiversity Conservation in the context of Competing Land Uses. Wildlife Conservation Society, Unpublishedreport to USAID ABCG BATS.
Seimon, A. and Picton-Phillipps, G. 2009. Climatological Assessment of the Albertine Rift for Conservation Applications. White Paper for MacArthur Foundation.
Seimon, A., and Plumptre,A.J. (2012) Albertine Rift, Africa. Pp33-44. In: J. Hilty, C.C. Chester andM.S.Cross (eds) Climate and Conservation.Landscape and seascape science, planning and action. Island Press,Washington.373pp.
Plumptre, A.J. 1991. Plant-herbivore dynamics in the Birungas. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bristol.
Plumptre, A.J. 2012. The Ecological Impact of Long-term Changes in Africa’s Rift Valley. Nova Science Publishers, New York. 308pp.
Plumptre, A.J., Kujirakwinja, D., Rwetsiba. A., Wanyama, F., Nangendo, G., Fuller, R and Possingham, H. 2012. The Distribution of Landscape Species in the Greater Virunga Landscape: Conservation implications. Unpublished report to WCS
Prinsloo, S., Mulondo, P.,Mugiru, G. and Plumptre, A.J. (2012). Measuringresponses of wildlife to oil exploration operations in Murchison Falls NationalPark. Report of USAID WILD Program.
Laurance, W. F., CarolinaUseche, D., Rendeiro, J., Kalka, M., Bradshaw, C. J. A., Sloan, S. P.,Laurance, S. G., Campbell, M., Abernethy, K., Alvarez, P., Arroyo-Rodriguez, V.,Ashton, P., Benitez-Malvido, J., Blom, A., Bobo, K. S., Cannon, C. H., Cao, M.,Carroll, R., Chapman, C., Coates, R., Cords, M., Danielsen, F., De Dijn, B.,Dinerstein, E., Donnelly, M. A., Edwards, D., Edwards, F., Farwig, N., Fashing,P., Forget, P.-M., Foster, M., Gale, G., Harris, D., Harrison, R., Hart, J.,Karpanty, S., John Kress, W., Krishnaswamy, J., Logsdon, W., Lovett, J.,Magnusson, W., Maisels, F., Marshall, A. R., McClearn, D., Mudappa, D.,Nielsen, M. R., Pearson, R., Pitman, N., van der Ploeg, J., Plumptre, A.,Poulsen, J., Quesada, M., Rainey, H., Robinson, D., Roetgers, C., Rovero, F.,Scatena, F., Schulze, C., Sheil, D., Struhsaker, T., Terborgh, J., Thomas, D.,Timm, R., Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, J., Vasudevan, K., Joseph Wright, S., CarlosArias-G, J., Arroyo, L., Ashton, M., Auzel, P., Babaasa, D., Babweteera, F.,Baker, P., Banki, O., Bass, M., Bila-Isia, I., Blake, S., Brockelman, W.,Brokaw, N., Bruhl, C. A., Bunyavejchewin, S., Chao, J.-T., Chave, J., Chellam,R., Clark, C. J., Clavijo, J., Congdon, R., Corlett, R., Dattaraja, H. S.,Dave, C., Davies, G., de Mello Beisiegel, B., Nazare Paes da Silva, R. d., DiFiore, A., Diesmos, A., Dirzo, R., Doran-Sheehy, D., Eaton, M., Emmons, L.,Estrada, A., Ewango, C., Fedigan, L., Feer, F., Fruth, B., Giacalone Willis, J.,Goodale, U., Goodman, S., Guix, J. C., Guthiga, P., Haber, W., Hamer, K.,Herbinger, I., Hill, J., Huang, Z., Fang Sun, I., Ickes, K., Itoh, A.,Ivanauskas, N., Jackes, B., Janovec, J., Janzen, D., Jiangming, M., Jin, C.,Jones, T., Justiniano, H., Kalko, E., Kasangaki, A., Killeen, T., King, H.-b.,Klop, E., Knott, C., Kone, I., Kudavidanage, E., Lahoz da Silva Ribeiro, J.,Lattke, J., Laval, R., Lawton, R., Leal, M., Leighton, M., Lentino, M., Leonel,C., Lindsell, J., Ling-Ling, L., Eduard Linsenmair, K., Losos, E., Lugo, A.,Lwanga, J., Mack, A. L., Martins, M., Scott McGraw, W., McNab, R., Montag, L.,Myers Thompson, J., Nabe-Nielsen, J., Nakagawa, M., Nepal, S., Norconk, M.,Novotny, V., O'Donnell, S., Opiang, M., Ouboter, P., Parker, K., Parthasarathy,N., Pisciotta, K., Prawiradilaga, D., Pringle, C., Rajathurai, S., Reichard, U.,Reinartz, G., Renton, K., Reynolds, G., Reynolds, V., Riley, E., Rodel, M.-O.,Rothman, J., Round, P., Sakai, S., Sanaiotti, T., Savini, T., Schaab, G.,Seidensticker, J., Siaka, A., Silman, M. R., Smith, T. B., Almeida, S. S. d.,Sodhi, N., Stanford, C., Stewart, K., Stokes, E., Stoner, K. E., Sukumar, R.,Surbeck, M., Tobler, M., Tscharntke, T., Turkalo, A., Umapathy, G., van Weerd,M., Vega Rivera, J., Venkataraman, M., Venn, L., Verea, C., Volkmer deCastilho, C., Waltert, M., Wang, B., Watts, D., Weber, W., West, P., Whitacre,D., Whitney, K., Wilkie, D., Williams, S., Wright, D. D., Wright, P., Xiankai,L., Yonzon, P., Zamzani, F. (2012). Averting biodiversity collapse in tropicalforest protected areas. Nature, 489, 290-294
WCS (2012). Attractions of Murchison Falls NationalPark: Perceptions about the Development of a Golf Course. Unpublished reportto Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Junker, J.; Blake, S.;Boesch, C.; Campbell, G.; Toit, L. d.; Duvall, C.; Ekobo, A.; Etoga, G.;Galat-Luong, A.; Gamys, J.; Ganas-Swaray, J.; Gatti, S.; Ghiurghi, A.; Granier,N.; Hart, J.; Head, J.; Herbinger, I.; Hicks, T. C.; Huijbregts, B.; Imong, I.S.; Kuempel, N.; Lahm, S.; Lindsell, J.; Maisels, F.; McLennan, M.; Martinez,L.; Morgan, B.; Morgan, D.; Mulindahabi, F.; Mundry, R.; N'Goran, K. P.;Normand, E.; Ntongho, A.; Okon, D. T.; Petre, C.-A.; Plumptre, A.; Rainey, H.;Regnaut, S.; Sanz, C.; Stokes, E.; Tondossama, A.; Tranquilli, S.;Sunderland-Groves, J.; Walsh, P.; Warren, Y.; Williamson, E. A.; Kuehl, H. S., (2012)Recent decline in suitable environmental conditions for African great apes. Diversity and Distributions, 18, 1077-1091.
One of the potential financing options that exists for conservation of natural forest is through REDD. The idea is that western nations offset their carbon emissions by paying to protect natural forest which is a source of about 20% of all carbon emissions. These funds could provide incentives for people who have natural forest on their land, or to national governments to protect forest rather than convert it to agriculture. WCS has been leading a feasibility analysis for REDD+ funding in the Murchison-Semliki Landscape, the Mt Hoyo-Virunga Park corridor of the Greater Virunga Landscape, the Itombwe Massif of the Maiko-Itombwe Landscape and the proposed Ngamikka Park of the Marungu-Kabogo Landscape. Murchison-Semliki Landscape The project in the Murchison-Semliki Landscape is the most advanced to date and a Project Design Document has been drafted since the feasibility analysis was completed. We are working with the local farmers and our partners in this landscape to agree on the best mechanisms for disbursement of any REDD+ funds to farmers that would minimize costs of implementation but at the same time ensure that carbon stocks are monitored and are conserved. It is estimated that about 31 million tones of CO2 could be sequestered if deforestation could be halted yielding about $153 million USD over the lifetime of the project. Funding that could be generated from selling carbon credits would raise about 70% of the costs to offset what farmers could make by converting these forests to agriculture in the short term but are likely to provide options over a longer period as the fertility of the soil declines within 4-5 years once the forest is cleared. We are contacting the private sector to look at options of improving agricultural yield outside the forests and to encourage shade tree production of coffee and cocoa that could widen the corridor and potentially add a premium to the price of the crop. Virunga-Mt Hoyo Project WCS has made a preliminary assessment of the potential for the forest corridor between Virunga Park and the Mt Hoyo Reserve to the north to generate financing for local people in this region. Given the rates of deforestation over the past ten years in the region we estimate that 6 million tones of CO2 could be sequestered providing $30.3 million USD over the next twenty years to farmers living around this corridor. We will be working on developing this project with Congo Basin Forest Funds in the near future. Itombwe Massif WCS has made a preliminary assessment of the carbon sequestration potential of the proposed boundaries of the Itombwe Reserve once it is finally gazette. Given the current rates of deforestation in the vicinity of the proposed reserve we estimate that over 20 years this site could sequester 12.3 million tones of CO2 yielding about $46.9 million USD for farmers living in and around this reserve. We are looking for funding to undertake a more detailed assessment ofthis site and develop a Project Design Document. Proposed Ngamikka National Park The proposed Ngamikka National Park in the Marungu-Kabogo Landscape would conserve an area of about 2,180 km2 of forest, woodland and grassland. Given the current rates of deforestation around the proposed park we estimate that in a project period of twenty years that 2,655 tonnes of CO2 generating about $10.2 million USD for farmers living around the park. We are looking for funding to be able to develop this project into a Project Design Document which would help us access REDD+ funding for the local communities once the park is established.
WCS works to conserve species as well as wild lands or landscapes. In the Albertine Rift we have been targeting species that are either endemic or threatened in the region, or that are ‘landscape species’. Landscape species are those species that tend to be large-bodied, live at low density, have large home ranges and are often iconic and have socioeconomic significance. Many landscape species perform important ecological functions in natural habitats such as modifying the vegetation and creating habitat, dispersing seeds or are important in nutrient cycling. As a result these species require large areas of natural habitat and are often the first to be extirpated as a result of conflict with man. We have identified landscape species for the Greater Virunga Landscape using a detailed selection process as proposed by Sanderson et al. (see publications list) but here we summarise our work across the Rift on certain groups of landscape species. Three groups of landscape species have been the target of studies in the Albertine Rift:
In addition to our work on landscape species we have also undertaken biodiversity surveys in all of the forests of the Albertine Rift using the same methods which allows us to compare the species richness and conservation value of the various forests throughout the rift. We are using these data to identify areas of conservation priority for the Albertine Rift.
Many of the landscapes in the Albertine Rift are made up of several protected areas which are contiguous. Two of the landscapes, the Greater Virunga and Congo-Nile Divide straddle international borders also. WCS, with its partners, has been encouraging the management of these larger landscapes which involves improving coordination and planning between the various protected areas or countries. In the case of landscapes that straddle the international borders an increased level of complexity is added because of the need to coordinate activities between different government agencies and, in the case of the Greater Virunga Landscape, working in different languages.
WCS supports transboundary collaboration in both landscapes, the only NGO to do so.
Greater Virunga Landscape
International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) started a process of transboundary collaboration in 1991 between Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for the Virunga Volcanoes and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where mountain gorillas are found. These areas form 5% of the Greater Virunga Landscape but for many years only this part of the landscape was involved in transboundary collaboration despite proposals having been made since the late 1980s that it take place across the whole landscape. In 2003 the WCS Albertine Rift Program decided to expand the collaboration to the rest of the landscape, to ensure coordination and collaboration between DRC and Uganda for the Virunga, Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori Mountains and Semuliki National Parks. Partnering with ICCN and UWA (the parks authorities in the two countries) we developed a program that brings together the wardens of the parks (or park sectors) together to discuss transborder issues every 4 months and each year we tackle a specific issue with a wider group of stakeholders which have included the police, military, customs, immigration, forest departments/authorities, universities, other NGO partners, local government etc. These stakeholder meetings aim to educate people about issues in the landscape or to try and develop solutions to problems that exist for conservation. Subjects that have been tackled include:
1. Assessing landscape species in the landscape and threats to their long term viability
2. Assessing the laws of DRC and Uganda pertaining to wildlife and improving law enforcement in the region
3. Improving knowledge of customs and immigration officials about the wildlife trade and trade in wildlife products
4. Tackling issues over transboundary fisheries management on Lake Edward
5. Regional monitoring and training in ranger-based monitoring
6. Tackling the timber trade from DRC to Uganda
7. Building the capacity of UWA and ICCN staff to be able to manage oil development in and around the Greater Virunga Landscape
These meetings have been very effective at engaging other stakeholders that the protected area authorities need to work with and have led to improved relations and better coordination between them as a result.
WCS also supports coordinated patrols that operate along the international borders and provides equipment for these patrols. Park guards cannot cross the international border for legal reasons and therefore what used to happen was that poachers when being pursued would head for the border because they knew they couldn’t be followed once they had crossed it. The incidences of poaching have significantly dropped in the border areas since we started supporting regular coordinated patrols at the border whereby rangers patrol the boundary at the same time on both sides of the border.
Over the period WCS has been supporting transboundary collaboration in the Greater Virunga Landscape agreements between the three governments have been developed over the transboundary collaboration process and a transboundary action plan was developed by the three protected area authorities. A core secretariat was established for the Greater Virunga Landscape, the Greater Virunga Transboundary Core Secretariat (GVTC), which now coordinates the transboundary activities between the countries. WCS is in the process of handing over responsibility of coordination activities in the north of the landscape to the GVTC and will remain engaged primarily in a technical capacity.
Congo-Nile Divide
Building on the success of the transboundary collaboration in the Greater Virunga Landscape WCS initiated a similar process of collaboration between Rwanda and Burundi in the Congo-Nile Divide Landscape. This programme, which is spearheaded by our Rwanda country program, has developed a MOU between the protected area authorities RDB and INECN in Rwanda and Burundi respectively. This led on to the development of a transboundary landscape plan and finally agreements between the two governments to collaborate in the management of this landscape.
As part of the transboundary collaboration WCS has helped rehabilitate infrastructure in the Kibira National Park in Burundi following the civil war and destruction of patrol posts and park buildings there. We have also helped INECN develop a management plan for Kibira National Park and have been supporting aspects of the implementation of this plan.
Meetings between the wardens of both parks are not held as regularly because there are fewer staff that need to be involved. Instead they tend to coordinate between each other and meet when there is a specific transboundary problem to resolve or to participate in joint training programme.
Vultures are declining around the World. Much of this decline is a result of the use of a veterinary drugs in India and Asia which kill the vultures when they feed on carcasses that have received treatment with this drug, or due to the use of poisons such as carbofuran insecticides in East and southern Africa. Little was known about vulture species in Uganda apart from some basic monitoring of numbers. In 2011 WCS started a program to study vultures in the Greater Virunga Landscape, in particular the Lappet-faced vulture which is a threatened species and was identified as one of 13 landscape species for this landscape. Richard Ssemmanda was taken on to lead this project and he was trained in the Masai Mara by Corinne Kendall in safe trapping methods for these animals. He has subsequently captured several animals and put global positioning backpacks on two white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) which we are monitoring as part of a pilot project to study this group. Regular monitoring of vultures at kills in Queen Elizabeth park indicate that there are few vultures of any species and even the most abundant species, the white-backed vulture, numbers less than 350 individuals. In one poisoning event this year over 50 white-backed vultures were killed indicating the level of impact that poisoning of carcasses can have on vulture numbers. The radio tracking data is indicating where likely breeding sites occur in the landscape and given there are no breeding records of vultures in Uganda it is important to identify these and ensure they are protected. They have also shown that the vultures move long distances between parks, with one individual flying directly to Lake Mburo National park about 100 km east of Queen Elizabeth Park. We are looking for funding to expand the pilot project and start to work on conservation actions for vultures in this landscape and in Uganda.