case studies undp: kibale association for rural and environment development (kafred), uganda

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: KIBALE ASSOCIATION FOR RURAL AND ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT (KAFRED), Uganda

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Uganda

KIBALE ASSOCIATIONFOR RURAL ANDENVIRONMENTALDEVELOPMENT (KAFRED)

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude KAFRED, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Tinka John Amooti and Geo

Owoyesigire. All photo credits courtesy o KAFRED. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012.Kibale Association or Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), Uganda. Equa

Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf


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PROJECT SUMMARYThe village community o Bigodi, near Fort Portal, westernUganda, straddles an eight kilometre stretch o papyruswetland that is home to an abundance o wildlie. Eightprimate species and more than 200 bird species drawtourists rom neighbouring Kibale Forest National Park,or which the Bigodi swamp orms an important wildliecorridor. Through the work o Kibale Association or Ruraland Environmental Development (KAFRED), the communitybenetted substantially rom this ecotourism trade byestablishing guided tours along a boardwalk through thewetlands, supplemented by the sale o handicrats by thevillage womens group.

Sustainable management o the area was backed by theenactment o bylaws in 1995, developed in a participatoryashion with local government authorities. This processprovided the legal oundation or the groups work in wildlieconservation and income generation that has benettedthe national park and local stakeholders in equal measure.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2004, 2010

FOUNDED: 1992

LOCATION: Kamwenge District, western Uganda

BENEFICIARIES: Approximately 300 households

BIODIVERSITY: Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary

3

KIBALE ASSOCIATION FOR RURAL ANDENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT (KAFRED)Uganda

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 8

Socioeconomic Impacts 9

Policy Impacts 10

Sustainability 11

Replication 13

Partners 13


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4

Kibale Association or Rural and Environmental Development

KAFRED) is a community-based organization working in Kamwenge

District, western Uganda. The group was ounded in 1992, and uses

cotourism and other environmentally sustainable enterprises to

romote biodiversity conservation and community development

n the Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary. The wetlands orm an important

wildlie corridor and are home to rich biological diversity: the swamp,

ominated by papyrus grasses, measures just eight kilometres in

ength, yet supports over 200 species o birds and eight species

primates. With participation rom the local arming community,

he original members o KAFRED were able to halt encroachment

n the wetlands area and create guided wildlie trails or tourists.

he revenues rom tourism have been used in building a secondarychool and promoting environmental education in the area,

nstituting a loan scheme or arming amilies, and supporting a local

womens group producing artisanal handicrats.

An important wildlie corridor

he Bigodi Wetlands corridor ecosystem connects two areas o

Kibale Forest National Park, eventually draining into Lake George,

n important Ramsar site, through the River Dura. In the latter

al o the twentieth century, papyrus cover within the wetlands

was substantially reduced, reecting the loss o orest cover

urrounding the wetlands as a result o increasing pressures rom a

rowing local population. Despite this loss o habitat, the wetlandsre still requented by Grey Crowned Cranes, while chimpanzees

ccasionally pass through the orest corridor. Among the many

ocal primate species are baboons and colobus monkeys; Kibale

orest National Park is home to the only viable population o an

ndangered subspecies o Ugandan Red Colobus (Procolobus

uomitratus tephrosceles) worldwide . The swamp is also home to the

are Great Blue Turaco.

rior to the 1990s, there was no tourism in the Kibale Forest region. The

ational park itsel was used primarily or research with chimpanzees.

Ater chimps were successully habituated, however, tourists be

to visit, leading to the opening o a tourist site at nearby Kanya

in 1991. Volunteers rom the US and UK worked with this projectone o these individuals was instrumental in encouraging the

residents o Bigodi to initiate their own tourist activities. The cat

was a tourists comments on the number o primate and bird sp

he had seen while walking around the village: ecotourism in Bi

was thereore demand-driven. KAFREDs initial objectives we

use ecotourism as a tool or promoting conservation. This evo

into using the revenues rom tourism or community developm

projects. The wetlands area was demarcated or tourism purp

and village by-laws governing its conservation were drawn u

1995 in a highly participatory process.

Background and Context


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55

Origins o collective action or conservation

his took place against a history o community-based projects

aving ailed in Bigodi, however. A secondary school project had

losed ater being constructed on land owned by a church, leading

o religious and tribal tensions. A credit and savings scheme had

ollapsed, meanwhile, ater inequitable distribution o the loan

unds, and a lack o transparency in how they were disbursed. KAFRED

hereore avoided building on land that was associated with certainribes or religious groups, instead using communal land donated

y local authorities. They also ensured that dierent sectors o the

ocal community were adequately represented in its membership.

Originally there were six ounder members, although many more

ad been involved in meetings leading to its ormation. By 1996

here were over 30 members o the group; in 2012 there were more

han 120. These are genuinely representative o the dierent groups

within the village, although KAFRED initially aced problems with

womens membership. This led to the ounding o Bigodi Womens

Group, supported by KAFRED; this constituency represents on

several KAFRED afliate groups, including the Enyange D

and Drama Group, Kiyoima Womens Group, Bigodi Peanut B

Group, and the Bigodi Credit and Savings Group. Annual ge

meetings are conducted in the local language o Rutooro: this

o community participation has been undamental to the succe

KAFREDs initiatives. KAFRED was also a ounder member o UC

the Ugandan Community Tourism Association, which has play

role in inorming government policy on the role o communititourist initiatives.

In 2010, KAFRED became the rst initiative to be awarded the U

Equator Prize or a second time, ollowing their success in 2004

initiative has consistently demonstrated the benets and poten

o community-based innovation or ecotourism, conservation

development, and serves as a role model both within Uganda

internationally.

Policy-makers must understand the importance of communities and community participation

conservation. They must create the necessary policy environment to allow this.

Tinka John Amooti, Director, KAFRED


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6

Key Activities and Innovations

cotourism activities in Bigodi consist mainly o guided walks throughboth the swamp and the village. The swamp walks are operated by

rained guides, and take place via boardwalks constructed through

he wetlands. They allow tourists to see wildlie at close-hand,

ncluding the 200 species o bird and eight primate varieties. The

illage walks, meanwhile, were initiated to allow tourists to see the

raditional means o living within the village. The activities include

isiting the primary school, the church, and a traditional healer,

nd hearing about the role o women in the village, traditional

eremonies, and the story o the Village o Two Tribes. This reers to

he history o Bigodi, in which the indigenous Batooro were joined

by the migrating Bakiga rom south-western Uganda in the 1950s.

A tourist home-stay program is also being pioneered by a ounding

member o KAFRED, to gauge whether there is sufcient demand orhis service on a larger scale.

nvesting in education

Reinvesting revenues rom ecotourism in education has been a

riving concern or KAFRED since its inception. While the area was

lready home to ve government-run primary schools, children

would have to travel to Fort Portal, a town some 35 kilometres

way, to attend secondary school. Attempts to establish a school

n the community initially aced the challenge o religious tensions.

ollowing participatory planning meetings in 1992, however, it was

ecided that KAFREDs non-partisan status would enable them to

overcome these obstacles. They began secondary school educationn 1993, based in a community building borrowed rom a armers

o-operative. The rst additional building was constructed in 1994,

nd the school now accommodates students until Senior Four level

typically age 16.) Currently it has over 200 students. Until recently,

KAFRED would subsidize all school ees and wages. Since the

Ugandan government abolished tuition ees in public secondary

chools in 2007, however, the majority o all school ees are paid

by the state. KAFRED pays the remainder, meaning that amilies do

ot have to contribute. It also pays the wages o the teachers at the

chool.

This has been supplemented by KAFREDs environmental educa

programs. One such program has been initiated in conjunction

the Kibale Fuel Wood Project, which has supported the runnin

a Science Centre on KAFREDs premises, while the womens g

uses dance and drama to convey conservation messages. O

these are perormed in local churches and schools. Films areshown in public settings or environmental education, based

similar Tanzanian project initiated by a Dutch NGO, Nature or

Meanwhile, KAFRED has supported teacher training throug

international partnership with UNITE (Uganda and North Car

International Teaching or the Environment). Originally this

a schools exchange program, initiated by the North Carolina

through UCOTA. UNITE now supports a teacher training prog

through an environmental expert based in Uganda. In 2010, tra

given to local teachers ocused on the theme o biodiversity.


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mproving community wellbeing and gender equality

KAFRED is planning to invest urther tourist revenues in health

nitiatives or Bigodi, which will be enabled once the government

ays secondary school ees in ull. So ar, the group has constructed

house or midwives at the local health unit, increasing maternal

ealth access or the community.

igodi Womens Group ormed as an association to support localwomen in developing ne handicrats and artisanal goods or sale

o tourists. The group is afliated with KAFRED, and has received

upport rom them in the orm o expert training in product

evelopment and marketing. They have also been given space in

which to exhibit their handicrats. 90% o the revenues raised rom

ourist sales goes to the individual woman artisan, while 10% goes

o a communal und. This und is used or community development

rojects by the group, currently comprising 40 women: so ar they

ave used the prots to ound a pre-primary school in Bigodi.

inally, KAFRED has helped to begin a loan scheme or the

amilies living on the edge o the wetlands. These are the arming

ouseholds who bear the brunt o human-wildlie conicts rom

he conserved area in the orm o primate crop-raiding. The armers

lso monitor and protect the area, ensuring that there are no human

ncroachments on the orest or wetlands. A und o USD 2,000 was

ered to representatives rom the 120 amilies in 2005, with the

ules or its lending established by the amilies themselves. They

lected a committee to manage it, including a representative rom

KAFRED, and established an interest-ree revolving loan scheme or

he amilies.

Figure 1: KAFRED organizational structure

Executive Committee

Program Manager

Receptionist

Support Sta

Finance Department

School AdministrationHead Guide

Guides

Source: KAFRED


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8

Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

The most important biodiversity impact achieved by KAFRED has

been the reduction in the rate o encroachment on the wetlands by

he villagers. A rst step was being given a mandate to sustainably

manage the Bigodi wetlands on behal o the wider community by

he local government authorities.

Conserving the wetlands borders

Wetlands conservation was initiated by a participatory planning

workshop held in Bigodi in 1995. The meeting involved KAFRED

members, heads o households bordering the wetlands, womeneaders, local council representatives, and district ofcials. Facilitators

rom the National Wetlands Program (NWP) and the Kibale and

emliki Conservation and Development Project (KSCDP) helped

o establish village by-laws governing the use o Bigodi Wetlands.

These concerned matters such as the distance o human activities

rom the swamps edge, restricting it to the level it had alr

reached. They also regulated rewood collection, grazing prac

and ruit gathering, while banning the digging o trenches to d

the wetlands and burning within the conserved area. These by-

were accepted by the community, and have played a crucial ro

preserving the remaining wetlands area. Without them, the wet

area would not exist today.

Further voluntary eorts have targeted the planting o eucaly

trees around the wetlands area. While ast-growing, and there

good or timber, the tree species has a destructive eect in dra

water rom the land, and leaves the soil too acidic or other sp

to grow. Activities have been undertaken since 2008 in cuttingeucalyptus trees, and encouraging villagers not to plant more. In

case this involved the district environment ofcer, who was bro

in to convince an individual to uproot his eucalyptus trees; he

compensated with money to purchase indigenous tree seedlin

Table 1: Rare and endangered species ound within Bigodi wetlands

Species IUCN Red List category

Crowned Hawk-eagle(Stephanoaetus coronatus) Least Concern

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) Vulnerable

Arican Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) Near Threatened

Papyrus Gonolek(Laniarius muumbiri) Near Threatened

White-winged Swamp Warbler (Bradypterus carpalis) Least Concern

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Endangered

Ugandan Red Colobus (Procolobus ruomitratus tephrosceles) Endangered

L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus lhoesti) Vulnerable

ource: KAFRED


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KAFREDs tree seedlings scheme has encouraged the planting o

ndigenous tree species such as cordia and prunus Aricanus or

agroorestry, with at least 5,000 tree seedlings raised in 2010. These

eedlings are given to community members or ree. In partnership

with the Kibale Fuel Wood Project, KAFRED is also developing a

cheme or promoting Sesbania sesban, a ast-growing indigenous

ree species. The tree is prized or its uel uses and nitrogen xing

properties, and can reach a height o teen eet one year ater

planting. The project also sells materials or making uel-efcienttoves, requiring less wood and so reducing pressures on the orest.

Targeted species monitoring

Monitoring o biodiversity within the wetlands area has been

poradic and led by various individuals. Primate researchers rom

he local Makerere University Biological Field Station have educated

KAFRED guides on specic primate species, and occasionally conduct

esearch on the various primate species. These include Black and

White Colobus, Red Colobus, Baboon, Grey Cheeked Mangabey, Red

Tailed Monkey, Blue and Vervet Monkeys, and the LHoests Monkey.

KAFRED is currently overseeing counting o these species within the

ourist trail area and a plot where a second boardwalk is planned, toassess the possible impacts o human activity on primate numbers.

The bird species number over 200, and include the rare Great Blue

Turaco, which has been adopted by KAFRED as their logo. Species o

warbler, kingsher, crane, and ycatcher also inhabit Bigodi swamp,

and attract signicant numbers o bird watchers.

Mitigating human-wildlie conict

Human-wildlie conicts have posed a signicant social problem

or the residents o Bigodi, especially or those living on the edge

o the conserved area. Crop-raiding has been the main challenge,

although research has shown that domestic animals do more

harm to crops than the wild animals. Kibale Forest National

has employed ditches and ences to stop elephants rom cros

into human settlement areas, although these eorts have o

not been maintained, or have themselves encroached on arm

land. Conversely, KAFRED has encouraged villagers to use tradit

methods such as planting thorn hedges and monitoring to pre

primates rom raiding their crops.

The group is currently working with UNITE and the Kibale FNational Park authorities to raise awareness among the

community on how to mitigate human-wildlie conict. Usi

USD 3,000 grant rom Cleveland Zoo, KAFRED is helping to con

our Human-Wildlie Conict trainings or the 200 members o

Parent-Teacher Associations and School Management Commi

o schools within a radius o ve kilometers rom the

Subsequently, human-wildlie conict mitigation eorts will be

in place in nine school communities. Strategies include increasin

use o buer crops on arms to deter problem animals; establis

and maintaining trenches to stop elephant incursions; using

peppers as an animal deterrent; decreasing the use o poiso

kill animals; greater collaboration between Bigodi communities

Uganda Wildlie Authority (UWA); and calling or great accountain how local government ofcials deal with these issues.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

KAFREDs socioeconomic impacts within Bigodi trading centre

been elt primarily through its investment in secondary sc

education. This has entailed the construction o the school build

and supporting the ees and wages o students and teachers. H

projects have also been initiated, while indirect economic ben

have accrued to the local community through the support o

Bigodi Womens Group and the loan scheme or arming amilie

9

Table 2: KAFRED benefciaries, 2011

Type Number

Voting members o KAFRED 117

Non-voting members o KAFRED 37

Employees (guides, managers, teachers, and other support sta) 33

Secondary school children and parents 500

Members o the womens groups 110

Wetland resource usersAbout 300 households estimated at an average o 8 peo

each, making a total o 2,400

Tourists An average o 4,000 per year

Local tour operatorsOver 20 tour companies with their directors, sta and ami

estimated at 250 people

Local service providers (lodging, ood and catering) At least 15 providers and their sta estimated at 225 people

Mothers helped by midwives/year About 100

ource: KAFRED


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Direct and indirect benefciaries

KAFRED directly employs 11 villagers in its ofces and as tour guides.

wenty teachers and sta are employed by KAFRED at the secondary

chool, as well as two cooks. The Science Centre also employs a

urther sta member. At various times, KAFREDs construction

rojects have also generated income or local workers, such as at

he school, library, the midwives house at the health unit, and in the

maintenance o the tourist trails. Indirect benets o KAFREDs work

ave been elt among a wide audience, including those providing

ourism-related services and those using wetlands resources.

Another social benet or the Bigodi community has been a clean

water project begun by KAFRED to reduce reliance on the unclean

water sources within the wetlands. This has also decreased draining

the wetlands area. KAFRED has used tourist donations and

unding rom partners to pump clean water rom a protected water

ource nearby. Meanwhile, the boardwalks through the wetlands are

sed by community members to cross rom one area o the village

o the other. KAFREDs partnership with Kibale Fuel Wood Project has

lso led to the building o uel-efcient stoves or Bigodi amilies,

ecreasing the pressures on the orest or rewood and improving

ealth conditions or participants.

he group has encouraged alternative livelihood activities that have

elped to increase household incomes and encourage Bigodi armers

o rerain rom encroaching on the wetlands. These eco-businesses

nclude pig-rearing, goat-rearing, and growing vegetables or sale,

nd have been unded by the revolving loan und. To date, at least

0 o the 120 homesteads bordering the wetlands have received

he revolving loan. These amilies have an average size o eight

members, yielding over 700 indirect beneciaries rom KAFREDs

lternative livelihoods programme.

POLICY IMPACTS

Many o KAFREDs activities have involved close relationships

local government authorities at dierent levels. These include

local councils at village, parish, sub-county, and district levels. L

government authorities were especially important in the orm

o village by-laws governing land use around the wetlands, a

encouraging community participation in KAFREDs projects.

At the national level, KAFRED helped to ound the Uga

Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) with the purpos

advocating on behal o community projects at the national

KAFRED was one o around thirty groups involved in its crea

which was encouraged by a USAID conservation initiative. The

evolved in 1995 during training workshops on tourism manage

or community groups situated around Ugandan national park a

Many o these groups stayed in close contact, and both KAF

and Bigodi Womens Group were instrumental in the associat

inception in 1998. Tinka John Amooti, a ounder member o KAF

served as its rst National Secretary, and the close relationship

developed has meant that KAFRED has had signicant input

this national body. UCOTA has managed to successully inu

Ugandan tourism policy, promoting greater emphasis on comm

projects. They have sat on planning committees or drating nattourist legislation, and played a role in drawing up Ugandas Tou

Policy in 2003.

In February 2012, the Ugandan parliament hosted the countrys

tourism week. Tinka John Amooti presented directly to parliam

on the successes o KAFRED as one o only two representativ

community-based tourism initiatives. The historical event, inten

as a orum or discussing Ugandas ecotourism potential, inclu

the speaker o the parliament, ministers o tourism, wildlie

heritage, members o parliament, and representatives o the tou

private sector.

10

Goat/sheep rearing

Pig rearing

Crop cultivation

Trade/shopkeeping

Cattle rearing

Vegetable growing

Tree planting

Other

Figure 2: How revolving unds have been spent (2011)

ource: KAFRED


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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYoth KAFREDs organizational and nancial sustainability have

een ensured by their approach to conservation, ecotourism,

nd development activities. Fundamental to the success o

heir community development initiatives has been community

articipation. This was important in 1992, when KAFREDs ounding

members were able to draw on the lessons learned rom the ailure

previous community-based organizations, and in 1995, when

KAFRED acilitated the drawing up o village by-laws to govern land

se around the wetlands area. It also played a role in the ounding

Bigodi Womens Group as a separate entity, avoiding tensions

hat would have resulted rom womens participation in KAFRED

tsel. Community participatory processes helped to establish the

evolving loan scheme or arming amilies, while all elements o

igodi village are represented within KAFREDs voting membership.

he group is led by an elected committee o seven members, who

re re-elected every two years. Many members o the group are rom

he Bigodi youth community.

n terms o its nancial sustainability, KAFRED budgets its revenue,

0% o which comes rom boardwalk tourism, to cover the wages

its employees. Community development projects that are not

ustainable, or that are reliant on repeated external donor unding

re avoided; instead KAFRED has been able to cover the costs o

Table 3: Funding sources or 2010/11

Source o Funding Percentage o total revenue

Guided (swamp and village) walks (around USD 50,000) 90.5%

Donations and small grants 8%

Guide training ees 0.9%

Sale o souvenirs 0.6%

ource: KAFRED


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1212

these activities with ecotourism revenues and one-o grants,

as that received rom the UNDP Global Environment Facilitys S

Grants Programme in 2004.

Avoiding over-reliance on ecotourism

KAFREDs partnership with the UWA through Kibale Forest Nati

Park has ensured that KAFRED has remained visibly markete

visitors, and continues to be a thriving tourist attraction wthe region. The organization recognizes that over-reliance

ecotourism would undermine the nancial sustainability o

initiative, however. This was evident in 1999-2001, when tou

numbers in western Uganda ell ater eight tourists were kille

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in February 1999.

eect was elt in Bigodi, reducing tourism numbers and there

revenue by around 60% or three years.

To address this, KAFREDs current strategic plan includes the

o collecting at least 20% o total revenue rom a non-tou

dependent eco-riendly activity by 2016, while maintaining

average increase in total revenue o 10%. The strategic plan

outlines the need to increase environmental awareness amcommunities bordering the wetlands by at least 60%; to ur

reduce encroachment and eucalyptus planting on the wetland

maintain a high proportion o KAFRED unds contributing to he

education, and community inrastructure needs in Bigodi; to u

diversiy income-generating activities or households borde

the wetlands; and to invest 20% o annual revenues in construc

sufcient inrastructure or KAFREDs management activities.

orward planning stands the initiative in good stead or adaptin

the challenges it aces.

1,401

578525 504

2,373

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 3: KAFRED visitor numbers, 1994-2006

ource: KAFRED


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REPLICATION

KAFRED has hosted visits rom other groups involved in developing

ommunity tourism, conservation, or development projects; their

model o community participation and 18 years o experience have

made the initiative a model or these processes. NGOs also approach

KAFRED or training and advice, while replication work has been

ndertaken in the Rwenzori Mountains and Bwindi Forest areas. This

as included developing village walks in nascent ecotourism sites,

or instance.

n 2003, KAFREDs work was eatured as an example o community-

ased tourism contributing to poverty reduction and conservation

n a UN World Tourism Organization publication. An international

anel o experts selected KAFRED as one o two Ugandan initiatives

eatured, ater the Uganda Tourist Board was invited to submit

uccessul ecotourism case studies. In turn, UCOTA requested that

KAFRED provide a best practices study concerning their nance

nd unding, sustainability, and regulation o ecotourism activities.

KAFREDs model was published in Sustainable Development o

cotourism A Compilation o Good Practices in SMEs (WTO, 2003).

It should be acknowledged, however, that one barrier to knowl

exchange within Uganda has been the many dierent t

languages spoken. Community or group dynamics can be v

dierent in other areas o the country, and this has occasionally m

transplanting the KAFRED model difcult. Nonetheless, KAF

has served as a model at both the national and international lev

PARTNERS

Various partners have been critical to KAFREDs work. The ollo

are some, although not all, o the groups that have contribute

their success:

Nature Uganda

Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) has ass

in oering quality training in areas such as guiding, tou

management, marketing, handicrats product developm

and market access or womens handicrats.

Uganda Wildlie Authority (UWA) has provided guide tra

and unds through sharing park revenues.

IUCN has given capacity building trainings in wet

management and has provided ofce equipment.

North Carolina Zoo supplied unding or the secondary sc

and has partnered with KAFRED through UNITE; Cleveland

has also unded this initiative.

Makerere Universitys eld station in Kibale provides researc

to help in conducting monitoring in the wetlands.

Kibale Fuel Wood Project co-manages the Bigodi Science Ce

and helps educate the local community on how to cons

uelwood.

Rwenzori Development Foundation has provided unding

eld equipment or ecotourism.

UNDP-implemented Global Environment Facility (GEF) S

Grants Programme has given nancial support to documlessons and to share them with other communities locally

globally.

Uganda Tourist Association.

UNDP Equator Initiative has raised KAFREDs national

international prole, as well as providing opportunitie

networking and media exposure.

Conservation cannot be successful without the active participation of local communities. The

need to be engaged in the process. Working with schools is an important means for environment

education. In Rutooro, the local language, there is no word for conservation. Education is vit

for community understanding and participation.

Tinka John Amooti, Director, KAFRED


14/14

Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change

onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

Lepp, A., Holland, S. 2006. A Comparison o Attitudes Toward State-Led Conservation and Community-Based Conservation in the Vi

o Bigodi, Uganda. Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 19, Iss. 7.

Mulindwa, D. 2007. Rethinking Community Participation in Ecotourism Management: The Case o KAFRED in Bigodi, Uganda. PhD

sis, Ashcrot International Business School, Anglia Ruskin University.

KAFRED website: bigodi-tourism.org/1701.html

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http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348261589.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348165612.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348163487.pdf

case studies undp: kibale association for rural and environment development (kafred), uganda

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