“As chimpanzees eat crops some of the local people become desperate in light of the fact that they don’t have another way for survival and out of outrage they attack the chimpanzees,” said Dr. Panta Kasoma.
At the point these primates get in the gardens of the local people those live near Kasongoire forest in Masindi region, the impacts incorporate food security and loss of income. This has prompted revenge attacks against chimpanzees, which are believed to be endangered species.
Such attacks to the chimpanzees need to fatalities, as per the report released by Uganda Biodiversity Fund (UBF). “There has been several death and injuring of both these primates and the local people in this conflict.”
This is set to change with the financing of $100m from the UBF, which has subsidized a consortium of three NGOs specifically Chimpanzee Trust, JGI and Eco-Trust to undertake activities that will help locals to endure chimpanzees.
Kasoma was addressing at Nyonyi Gardens in Kampala during the recent first project to profit by UBF. The Trust Fund pools assets from international and local donors.
As indicated by the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of UBF, Dr. Arthur Mugisha, the local people will increase the resilience of the community. He said the group will pool assets together and furthermore get support from private sector, for example, Kinyara Sugar Works so that the community affected by the harvest raiding chimpanzees gets remuneration.
“The project will bolster foundation of the Human Wildlife Community Resilience Fund to relieve group misfortunes from wildlife invasions through improvement of local and local compensation conspires as one of the motivating force measures for community engagement in sustainable natural resources management,” she said.
Also, the communities will be supported to expand profitability of their land by growing high valuable products, for example, chilli and ginger which are not palatable to the chimpanzees, as indicated by Kasoma. Notwithstanding, he said getting market for the produce would be fundamental in order to make ginger growing and chilli sustainable enterprises.
Just 5,000 chimpanzees found in the country in the parts of Albertine rift valley (the left arm of the rift valley) between Lake Albert and Bwindi National Park in the southwestern part of Uganda.
