Visitors to Uganda’s National Parks Will Hit a Record by UWA
Visitors to Uganda’s National Parks Will Hit a Record by UWA. Uganda Wildlife Authority is optimistic Uganda will get high number of visitors
Visitors to Uganda’s National Parks
Between January and December 2022, the Uganda Wildlife Authority welcomed 367,869 tourists. According to Dorcus Rukundo Twesigomwe, the Business Development Manager of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), “Prior to Covid, 320,000 visitors was what we had as the highest number of visitors coming to our protected areas, and this was in 2019 but we exceeded this last year.”
In the history of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, “367,869 has been the largest number we have ever registered.”
She was speaking during a media breakfast held at Kampala’s Skyz Hotel.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority is responsible for managing Uganda’s 10 national parks, 12 wildlife reserves, 13 sanctuaries, and 05 community wildlife zones. Tourists can book a safari to Uganda such as 2 days Gorilla Trekking Uganda or 1 Day Gorilla trekking Uganda to view the endangered mountain gorillas through locally registered Uganda Tour companies.
Increased domestic Tourism in Uganda
Since airports and other facilities had to close due to the Covid epidemic, the Uganda tourism industry was one of the worst hit.
Nevertheless, the nation launched a push to encourage Ugandans to visit nearby tourism spots after the economy was opened.
With 330,000 visits, 2019 saw the most ever to Uganda’s protected areas, according to Rukundo, who also observed that since the lockdown’s removal, the number of tourists has increased dramatically.
According to the UWA Business Development Manager, a number of Ugandans’ outdoor experiences in the nation’s national parks can help to account for some of the increase in tourists visiting Uganda’s protected areas.
In contrast to the period prior to Covid, we observed a significant increase in Ugandans choosing to visit our national parks and other protected places last year. Nowadays, a lot of people decide to travel to our national parks instead of flying abroad.
Sam Mwandha, executive director of UWA, stated that the nation is on track to surpass the number of tourists seen last year.
“In the current quarter, we just need 56,000 people to meet that level (367,869 visitors), and I am optimistic that we will surpass that number. Previously, the highest we had received was 330,000, and now, Mwandha said, “we are saying we are performing better than ever before.
Poaching in Uganda National Parks
Although the government has made significant progress in expanding the number of tourists who visit its national parks and other protected areas, problems like poaching and human-wildlife conflict continue to be obstacles.
“Poaching, which occurs when people want to make quick money, is the main issue we have with elephants, lions, and pangolins. Unfortunately, poaching will not be readily eradicated.
For instance, UWA personnel conducted operations between July and December of last year and found 7307 poaching equipment and seven weapons with 14 live rounds.
During the same time frame, 1870.5 kilograms of pangolin scales and 224.15 kilograms of ivory were also taken.
On the other hand, 3974 instances of human-wildlife conflict were documented.
There will always be conflicts because both human and animal populations have increased. Wildlife crosses borders because it has no respect for them.
Compiled by
