Mpanga-Site-Visit-Re.. - Cycad Specialist Group

Site Visit Report: Mpanga River Gorge, Uganda
21 st and 22 nd August 2010
by
Quentin & Trish Luke
Quentin.Luke@swiftkenya.com Trish@bush-and-beyond.com

Background
The small (16 Megawatts) hydro-electric project at Mpanga Gorge became known
outside of Uganda due to a visit by two Kenyan tourists, Steve and Jane Turner,
followed by a report circulated by Andrew Roberts of Kampala through Dr Henk
Beentje of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
At this time (May 2008) the situation was already being investigated locally by Dr
David Hafashimana, National Forestry Resources Research Institute, and the
Uganda Wildlife Authority Executive Director in their questioning of NEMA’s
(Uganda) acceptance of the Project’s very poor EIA. Following international
outcry, NEMA was persuaded by the Ugandan conservationists to sign an
environmental compliance agreement with the developer in which NEMA pointed
out the key action areas, including protection of the cycads Encephalartos
whitelockii (photo 1). No mention had been made in the EIA of the presence of the
only known population of this rare species,. Much email correspondence exists
regarding the outcome of UWA and Nature Uganda’s intervention and comments
and advice from many well known biologists. Dr James Kalema, from Makerere
University Botany Dept, made a site visit with Achilles Byaruhanga, of Nature
Uganda, and filed a report on the situation in the Gorge. The contractor then
agreed to actions mitigating the impact of both the road works and dam
construction, and it is understood that Dr Kalema initiated several visits to the
Gorge, funded by the Contractor, to establish a plant nursery, to translocate and
then replant significant numbers of E. whitelockii.
Photo 1. The Cycad, Encephalartos whitelockii

Site Visit
When QL was invited to attend an IUCN workshop in Entebbe, he took the
opportunity of planning a visit to the Gorge to see the current situation with the
Cycads. Dr James Kalema made arrangements for the visit, but due to University
teaching commitments was unable to accompany the team and therefore detailed
his assistant, Dennis Kamoga to accompany them. The team, now consisting of
QL, PL, Dr Wendy Foden, Programme Officer (Climate Change) of IUCN Species
Programme and DK, set out for Mpanga from Kampala on the morning of 21 st
August and arrived at Kamwenge in the afternoon. A representative of the
contractor, Mr LPD Dayanandra had been waiting for the team and returned to the
Gorge with them in the late afternoon. The dam site was visited first (photo 2)
where the small scale of the dam wall was noted. The most shocking sight was the
large area of grassland occupied by cycads, that had been recently burnt by the
local owners of the eastern side of the Gorge (pers comm. Dayanandra – photo 3).
An attempt by the contractor to remove some of the bigger cycads from an island
within the impoundment area was evidently in progress (photo 4). The minimum
flow (during the dry season) along the river from the dam to the falls and down to
the powerhouse is set by two pipes in the dam wall of 450mm diametre each (one
shown marked in red in photo 5). A very brief visit (as it was getting dark) was
made to the powerhouse, a few kilometres down river, followed by a brief visit to
the contractor’s staff encampment on a ridge overlooking Lake George.
Photo 2. Mpanga Dam Wall

Photo 3. Local Burning of Cycads
Photo 4. Cycad removal from Island in Impoundment Area

Photo 5. Minimum Flow provision in Dam Wall
The team returned to Kamwenge village for the night (some 25 km away) and
arranged to meet the contractor at 6.30am the following morning.
On the morning of 22 nd August, the team met Dayanandra who gave his permission
to visit the Gorge unaccompanied. The first area visited was the rock blasting for
the continuation of the water channel (photos 6) where a group of red colobus were
encountered. Finding a path down to the river, QL began a basic plant list
(Appendix 1) and the team was able to get to the top of the Mpanga Falls (photo 7).
The team then returned to the powerhouse and walked up river to some smaller
falls and later looked at the Gorge further down river (photo 8). Various areas due
for replanting of cycads from the nursery (photo 9) were visited and the sorry state
of the nursery recorded (photo 10). After lunch in Kamwenge, we said goodbye to
Dyanandra and left for the return trip to Kampala.

Photo 6. Routing of Water Channel
Photo 7. Top of Mpanga Falls

Photo 8. River below Mpanga Powerhouse
Photo 9. Area prepared for Cycad planting

Photo 10. Cycad Nursery
Observations
1. Efforts by the contractor to translocate cycads had come to a halt due to
intense pressure to complete the dam construction and power generation
contract by October 2010 resulting in all personnel working day and night.
The Makerere team had also not visited the site for 3 months because the
contractor had said that they needed to complete the construction of the
canal before they could spare any personnel for cycad replanting.
2. The large area of cycads on the eastern side of the Gorge had been burnt by
local landowners apparently as part of their normal farming practice of grass
regeneration for their livestock (photo 11) and was commented on strongly
by the contractor as a major impact on the cycad population.
3. Cycads in the nursery and those already replanted in the Project area were
not all doing well due a certain lack of care and attention.
4. Damage to mature cycads was ongoing as a result of continued project
earthworks (blasting) and construction (photo 12).

Photo 11. Local Cow (Ankole)
Photo 12. Cycad Damage
5. The actual area of cycads impacted by the construction is probably less than
5% of the total area inhabited by the cycads.

6. As reported by others, the Gorge is indeed a stunning natural landscape and
would undoubtedly, if managed as a tourist attraction, provide more income
and benefit to the local community in the long term than the short term gain
of the hydro electric project. It should be noted that, according to the
contractor, the local population were still negotiating for some of the
generated power to be made available on site and not all transmitted to the
national grid (at present power only reaches as far as Kamwenge) .
7. A new development that apparently had not been part of earlier discussions
or EIA, was the provision of the transmission lines by another contractor
who was obviously not aware or not interested in minimizing impact on the
cycads (photo 13, 14).
Discussion
Photo 13. Power Line route clearing
With the above in mind, it is obvious that after the initial flurry of activity to
prevent uncontrolled damage to this unique population of cycads, economic
pressure on the contractor and lack of supervision, has led to more damage than
necessary. Urgent intervention through emergency funding could resolve the

situation over translocations of the cycads and secure the necessary oversight.
However, the continued lack of local conservation initiative and what appears to be
no change in long term planning for the area, means that the cycads still have a
very uncertain future and a superb asset for the Ugandan people is still being
undervalued.
Photo 14. Chainsaw operation on Cycads
The most surprising discoveries of this survey were that no complete botanical
inventory has been carried out (neither within the impoundment area nor below the
dam), thus it is unknown what other species of conservation concern exist within
the Gorge. Nor have any baseline vegetation studies been carried out so that the
impact of the reduction in the dry season flow (to 1 cumec along the section of the
Gorge from the dam to the power house) will not be measurable in the future. It is
still not too late to complete these studies before the project becomes operational
(probably not before December 2010). It is probable that knowledge of the other
sections of biodiversity is equally poor and that mammalogy, ornithology,
herpetology and invertebrate studies are still necessary (certainly no census has
been carried out on the Red Listed Red Colobus, Procolobus rufomitratus
tephrosceles). Although the initial impression was that the Cynometra forest
(photo) was not very plant species rich, it is not known what else it shelters and
whether it will be impacted by the unforeseen effects of the project (Photo 15).

Photo 15. Tree in Mpanga Gorge, Baphia wollastonii
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to: the IUCN Albertine Rift Climate Change Vulnerability
Assessment Workshop for funding QL’s vehicle from Nairobi to Entebbe and back;
and to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for supporting the trip from Kampala
to Mpanga and back. The trip would not have been possible without Dr James
Kalema’s organisation and Dennis Kamoga’s cheerful company. The co-operation
of the contractor, through Mr Dayanandra, is recognised.
References
Byaruhanga A., J. Kalema & A. Namara (2008). The Impact of Dam Construction on the
Biodiversity and Ecology of Mpanga River Gorge, Kamwenge District, Western Uganda.
Unpublished Report
APPENDIX: 1
Preliminary List of Plants from Mpanga Gorge
FAMILY SPECIES
Polypodiaceae Phymatosorus scolopendria (Burm.f.) Pic.Serm.
Polypodiaceae Platycerium elephantotis Schweinf.
Zamiaceae Encephalartos whitelockii P.J.H.Hurter
Capparaceae Capparis tomentosa Lam.
Capparaceae Maerua duchesnei (De Wild.) F.White
Crassulaceae Kalanchoe sp

Polygonaceae Persicaria decipiens (R.Br.) K.L.Wilson
Balsaminaceae Impatiens niamniamensis Gilg
Canellaceae Warburgia ugandensis Sprague ssp ugandensis
Achariaceae Rawsonia lucida Harv. & Sond.
Begoniaceae Begonia sp
Ochnaceae Ochna sp
Combretaceae Combretum collinum Fresen. ssp binderanum?
Combretaceae Combretum molle G.Don
Combretaceae Combretum sp
Malvaceae Hibiscus calyphyllus Cav.
Euphorbiaceae Alchornea cordifolia (Schumach. & Thonn.) Muel.Arg.
Euphorbiaceae Argomuellera macrophylla Pax
Euphorbiaceae Euphorbia dawei N.E.Br.
Euphorbiaceae Synadenium sp
Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae) Cynometra alexandri C.H.Wright
Mimosaceae (Leguminosae) Mimosa pigra L.
Papilionaceae (Leguminosae) Baphia wollastonii Baker f.
Papilionaceae (Leguminosae) Craibia brownii Dunn
Hammermelidaceae Trichocladus ellipticus Eckl. & Zeyh. ssp malosanus (Baker) Verdc.
Moraceae Dorstenia hildebrandtii Engl. var schlechteri (Engl.) Hijman
Moraceae Ficus exasperata Vahl
Moraceae Ficus sp cf amadiensis De Wild.
Urticaceae Obetia radula (Baker) B.D.Jackson
Urticaceae Urera trinervis (Hochst.) Friis & Immelman
Celastraceae Gymnosporia senegalensis (Lam.) Loes.
Celastraceae Maytenus undata (Thunb.) Blakelock
Loranthaceae Agelanthus toroensis (Sprague) Polhill & Wiens
Vitaceae Cissus oliveri (Engl.) Gilg?
Rutaceae Vepris sp
Sapindaceae Dodonaea viscose Jacq. var angustifolia (L.F.) Benth.
Anacardiaceae Pseudospondias microcarpa (A.Rich.) Engl.?
Anacardiaceae Searsia natalensis (Krauss) F.A.Barkley
Sapotaceae Mimusops bagshawei S.Moore
Myrsinaceae Maesa lanceolata Forssk.
Loganiaceae Strychnos usambarensis Gilg
Asclepiadaceae (Apocynaceae) Ceropegia sp
Asclepiadaceae (Apocynaceae) Cynanchum gerrardii (Harvey) Liede?
Asclepiadaceae (Apocynaceae) Telosma africana (N.E.Br.) N.E.Br.
Asteraceae Ageratum conyzoides L.
Asteraceae Solanecio mannii (Hook.f.) C.Jeffrey
Boraginaceae Cordia monoica Roxb.
Solanaceae Solanum giganteum Jacq.?
Convolvulaceae Stictocardia beraviensis (Vatke) Hallier f.
Lamiaceae Plectranthus sp
Asparagaceae Asparagus setaceus (Kunth) Jessop
Dracaenaceae Sansevieria 1
Dracaenaceae Sansevieria 2
Anthericaceae Chlorophytum sp
Amaryllidaceae Scadoxus multiflorus (Martyn) Raf. ssp multiflorus
Orchidaceae Calyptrochilum christyanum (Rchb.f.) Summerh.
Orchidaceae Tridactyle sp?
Orchidaceae Vanilla imperialis Kraenzl.?
Araceae Anchomanes difformis (Blume) Engl.
Arecaceae Phoenix reclinata Jacq.