Journal of Global Ecology and Environment

Totems were originally animals or plants that had a special symbolic meaning to a group of people and were regarded as sacred objects that were worshiped and surrounded by various ritual activities. The current study aimed to synthesize the contribution of totems practices to wildlife conservation and derive a mechanism to integrate Buganda totems practices into wildlife conservation as an alternative to modern conservation practices of wildlife species and their habitats". Specifically, the study objectives focused on exploring the cultural values, beliefs and norms of totemic practices to wildlife conservation in the Buganda kingdom; and evaluated the relationship between totem practices and wildlife conservation, emphasizing the potential mediating effects of certain interventions in this nexus. The researcher employed a cross-sectional research design to achieve the stated objectives. This was because the study was based on the people’s experiences within a particular group of people. Both the qualitative and quantitative study approaches were used to collect the data. A sample size of 388 respondents were included from a target population of 13,500 individuals from the study area. The target population from which the sample was drawn included 1,500 from Mawokota, 8,000 from Busiro, and 4,000 from Buddu counties who were proportionately selected. The study also included a total of 50 key informants who were purposively selected from organisations like Buganda Heritage and Tourism Board (BTHB), Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC), and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) who had some requisite information about the study variables. Interviews, questionnaire survey and focus group discussions were used to collect the primary data. The data obtained from the questionnaire survey were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 and the qualitative data collected were thematically analyzed to augment on the quantitative findings. The study revealed that totemic practices of Buganda kingdom were very significant towards wildlife conservation and species’ habitat protection. The Totemic Integration Practices Sustainability Model (TIPSM) was formulated from the study findings aimed at strengthening existing conservation strategies of both totemic animals and plants in Buganda. The study affirmed that there is a need for community involvement in wildlife resources management by involving cultural institutions in Buganda while integrating them with the Buganda kingdom totemic practices. The integration of indigenous technical knowledge based on Buganda totemic practices ranks as the best solution towards wildlife threats from poaching, overharvesting, prevention of human-wildlife conflicts and countering of climate change effects in the Buganda kingdom, Uganda and world at large. The study recommends that wildlife management agencies in Uganda to involve Cultural Institutions by integrating totemic practices and modern scientific conservation strategies towards protecting and conserving wildlife resources.