Community-Led Participatory Forest Monitoring for the Restoration of Kibale National Park (KNP) in Western Uganda

Richard Kigenyi

School of Sciences, Nkumba University, P.O BOX 237 Entebbe, Uganda.

Talibita Moses

School of Sciences, Nkumba University, P.O BOX 237 Entebbe, Uganda.

Taddeo Rusoke *

Faculty of Sciences, Al Azhar University Jarkata, Indonesia and Department of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism, Mountains of the Moon University, Fort Portal, Uganda.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study on Participatory Forest Monitoring (PFM) and Natural Forest Restoration (NFR) in Uganda, a case of communities bordering Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda was conducted among 394 respondents from June to August 2024. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design to determine participatory Forest Monitoring Activities and Practices. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to collect responses and data was analysed using MS Excel. Findings reveal that more males (55.58%) participated in PFM compared to 44.42 females, most females were involved in raising seedlings for restoration of KNP. The majority (83.76%) of them were farmers. Over 46.09% of the households were employed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority Forests Absorbing Carbon Emission (UWA-FACE) project and living within 1 kilometre of the park boundary. Tree planting through reforestation of degraded and reclaimed areas was the main PFM activity at 51%. Participation in PFM was through signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Only 24% of the households signed an MOU with UWA-FACE to participate in PFM programmes. According to the survey, most (37.8%) of respondents were supported in livelihood projects such as tree nursery management. Supporting tree planting and reforestation efforts accounted for 11.75%.  Of the 394 respondents surveyed, 79.2% strongly agreed that they engaged in selecting tree species to raise for restoration activities to improve the management of Kibale National Park (M=1.88, SD = 1.97). Almost half (54.4%) of the communities bordering Kibale National Park (KNP) work with UWA rangers during forest monitoring patrols in restored areas (M=2.25, SD = 1.95). PFM can restore natural forests. There is a need to increase support for community projects by UWA-FACE.

Keywords: Participatory forest monitoring, restoration and management, Kibale National Park, Uganda


How to Cite

Kigenyi, R., Moses, T., & Rusoke, T. (2024). Community-Led Participatory Forest Monitoring for the Restoration of Kibale National Park (KNP) in Western Uganda. Journal of Global Ecology and Environment, 20(4), 115–125. https://doi.org/10.56557/jogee/2024/v20i48917